Kingdom
by Mediafan
Summary: The Hohenheims are royalty and Central is their kingdom. For years, Edward's family has held the city in it's grasp. But wherever there is power, there are those who wish to take it. In a city full of criminals who can you really trust? Gangster AU. Edwin plus other pairings.
1. Chapter 1

**Well, here it is; my next story. I'm trying something different with this one and I hope you all like it.**

 **OoO**

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 **OoO**

Central, the city that never gave a shit.

To survive in the slums you needed to be strong. You had to have the guts to do what you needed to survive. Because if you didn't, too bad. No one was going to help you.

No one gives a shit.

The young Ishvalan man remembered this as he trudged down the sidewalk. His footsteps echoing loudly down the empty streets. The sun had set a long time ago and night was well underway. A reasonable person would be home where it's safe. But reasonable people usually weren't looking over their shoulder after having just robbed a liquor store.

It'd gone well, relatively speaking. The owner had resisted more than the Ishvalan would have liked. Rolling his mask up in his hands, he tossed it into a nearby dumpster. A mask was necessary for these types of jobs. The mark on his face was too recognizable.

His scar.

As he walked, his hand slipped into the bag around his shoulder. There was enough money in there to keep him going for the next two months. He wasn't worried about anyone trying to take it from him. At 6'5, he was a very intimidating sight to behold.

Is was at that moment that he realized that there was a black car trailing slowly behind him. The man glanced subtly over his shoulder and kept on walking. The car was trailing about 10 feet behind him, moving at the same speed that he was. It wasn't a cop car. He didn't know who it was.

His other hand drifted to the waist of his pants. The gun that he had used to rob the store was right where he needed it to be. His red eyes glared forward as he heard the car accelerate and he glanced to the side as it drove past him. He let out a sigh of relief and removed his hand from his pistol.

He froze when the car came to a stop next to the sidewalk about 10 feet in front of him. It was a black limo. He had only seen a limo like this a handful of times. One of the doors opened and a man climbed out of it.

Scar stared wearily as the man stepped out in front of him. The man was tall and wore a black, well pressed suit. He was also wearing sun glasses, which the Ishvalan found to be strange considering that it was night out. The mysterious man's face was set in a grin that reminded the young Ishvalan of a reptile.

"Hello, Mr. Scar." The man said with a nod.

Scar didn't respond.

"I know that's not your real name." The man continued, holding up a folder. "I know a lot about you, actuality." He opened the folder.

"Now let's see...assault resulting in bodily injury, burglary, unlawful possession of a weapon, and resisting arrest." The man listed off. "Oh and having a stash of over-the-counter decongestant pills that could be used to make methamphetamine. Specific." The man grinned as he looked up at him. "It also says that you have no current occupation." He pointed his hand toward the open door of the limo. "Are you interested in a job interview?"

Scar glanced at the limo then back at the man. He now had a pretty good idea who this man was and if he was right, then he knew who was waiting for him in the car.

The man broke him out of his thoughts. "This is a limited time offer."

Scar cautiously made his way forward, eyeing the vehicle like a sheep would a dangerous animal. As he got close he was stopped by the man placing his hand on his chest. Scar glared at the grinning man.

"As my client's representative, I suggest you leave the stolen money and the unlicensed firearm outside of the vehicle."

Scar stared at the man for a moment before dropping the bag and gun on the hard pavement.

This was either going to go very good for him, or very bad.

Getting into the limo, Scar went rigid when he saw the man sitting across from him. There was a single light on the ceiling, pointed directly at him. Because of this his vision was slightly obscured by its brightness. Despite that, he could still clearly see the man in front of him. The elegant brown suit, the golden blonde hair flowing around a strong face, and the piercing gold eyes.

Van Hohenheim.

Scar kept silent, not daring to speak. The man in front of him was silent as well, albeit a more calm and amused silent. Scar on the other hand found himself feeling extremely on-edge. He eventually noticed that his own hands were shaking. He'd faced armed gangs, knife wielding drug addicts, and cops without batting an eye. Yet right now, he held no control over his own nerves.

"Good evening." Van Hohenheim finally spoke.

Scar opened his mouth but no words came out. He tried again and was able to say:

"Hello."

Hohenheim smiled. It was a disarming smile, yet Scar didn't allow himself to relax yet. Not until he knew why he was in this car. The door closed next to him and he heard the man outside get into the passenger seat up front. Shortly there after, the car started moving.

Hohenheim spoke again. "You can calm down Scar. I assure you that I plan no ill will towards you."

Scar swallowed as he nodded.

"I hope Gregory didn't startle you too greatly." Hohenheim said. "Some say he can be rather unnerving."

Scar didn't know how to respond to that. Hohenheim didn't seem to notice his silence.

"Now, I'm sure that you must be wondering as to why I have invited you into my car?" Hohenheim asked.

Scar nodded, not trusting his voice to speak.

"As Gregory said, this is a job interview."

Scar's eyes widened, was Van Hohenheim offering him a job?

"What kind of job?" He asked quietly. Finally regaining the ability to speak.

"A long term employment." Hohenheim said, "One that I promise will be very beneficial for you."

"What…what is it?" He asked.

"Protection, a bodyguard to be exact." Hohenheim said simply.

'A bodyguard?' Scar thought in surprise. Van Hohenheim was one of the most guarded people in the entire city. Why would he need another bodyguard? Especially someone like him.

"Sir." Scar spoke up. "I don't understand-"

"It's not for me." Hohenheim cut him off, leaning forward so that he was much closer. The shadows that the light created on his face gave him an eerie look. His golden eyes were shining darkly. They looked like the eyes of a dangerous predator. Scar couldn't tear his own eyes away, he'd never been one to be scared of someone. He'd always been able to beat down anyone who'd threatened him. People would flee the room if he so much as glared at them.

But right now none of that seemed to matter. Nothing he had ever done compared to the man in front of him. He wasn't even threatening him, yet Scar wanted to get out of this vehicle and run as fast as possible.

Hohenheim continued talking. "You know who I am. You know what I do. The bloodshed that's been littering our streets is going to come to an end very soon. Tonight is the night that I finalize my position in this city. And when this is accomplished I can finally enjoy the more pleasant aspects of my life. You see, my wife is pregnant." A warm smile ghosted its way onto Hohenheim's face. "Our first born son. I plan to have many more children with the woman I love and if I am to do that, I need to know that they will be protected."

Scar listened in silence as Hohenheim laid out his proposition to him.

"I'd like for a man who is strong and loyal to protect my family." Hohenheim said. "And I think that man can be you."

Scar stared at Hohenheim in stunned silence before he whispered out, "Why me, sir?"

"Because you had a family once." Hohenheim said. "You know what it is like to love and to lose."

Scar narrowed his eyes, how much about him did this man know?

"Your brother was a brilliant man." Hohenheim said. "But what he had in intelligence he lacked in action. He had potential, but it was never founded. Like your brother, you have unfounded potential."

Scar shook his head. His brother had been the special one, the smart one. The one who was supposed to go off to college and live a long happy life. He, on the other hand, was just a thug.

"Don't dismiss yourself too quickly." Hohenheim continued. "You recognize your abilities and you want to use them. Why else would you have gotten into this car?"

Scar spoke up, "What do you want me to do?"

"As I said, protect my family." Hohenheim said. "Protect them from those who wish to harm them, yet don't shelter them from the truth."

"What truth?" Scar asked.

"That people want to kill them." Hohenheim said. "People will want to kill them because of who they are and who I am. They must be able to accept this."

"I don't think I'm the right man for that job." Scar said nervously. "I can't keep children safe."

"Really?" Hohenheim said with a raised eyebrow. "When you used to attend school your teachers were especially praising of the way you protected your friends and those you cared about from bullies."

"That was different." Scar said quickly.

"How so?" Hohenheim asked.

"Because they were important to me. I needed to.." Scar trailed off as he saw Hohenheim's point.

Hohenheim took his silence to continue talking. "Are you tired of your life of stealing? Living in beatdown apartments? Looking over your shoulder for the cops every time you go outside? If so, I suggest you consider my offer."

Scar was silent, his gaze downcast. Eventually he looked up at Hohenheim who was patiently waiting for a response.

"I accept."

Hohenheim smiled and held his hand out. Surprised, Scar took the older man's hand and shook it. His grip was unsurprisingly strong.

"Once we've finished our business for the night, Gregory will draw up a contract of employment. It will include conditions and salary. This contract can be negotiable if you are unsatisfied with any of the details."

"Business?" Scar asked.

Suddenly the car stopped. Hohenheim's expression was now emotionless, and his eyes held a sudden fire.

"The real interview starts now."

The door next to Hohenheim opened and he climbed out. A now even more nervous Scar followed.

When he got out, Scar saw that they were at a warehouse in the industrial district. This particular warehouse was by the river.

Hohenheim put on a long brown coat and exchanged a few words with Gregory. Scar saw several other men around them, all dressed in black coats and hats. He counted about eight in all. He felt on edge again, something was about to go down.

Hohenheim turned to look at him.

"Follow me."

Hohenheim turned and headed towards the warehouse. Gregory and the men in black followed him. Scar stood there for a moment, unsure of what to do, before following as well.

They were silent as they moved into the building. Hohenheim walked slowly, his hands in his coat pockets. Scar stayed in the back. The lights in the building were off when they entered. The doors revealed a long dark hallway. At the end of it was a faint light. Hohenheim continued on, not breaking in his stride. As he walked he raised his hand and signaled for Scar to join him. The men in black stepped aside as Scar moved forward. When Scar got to the front, he was startled by the look on Hohenheim's face. His eyes were blazing like a dark fire; his mouth a grim line.

"Do you remember the first man you ever killed?" He asked.

"Yes." Scar answered.

"As do I." Hohenheim answered. "Why did you kill yours?"

Scar was quiet for a moment before answering. "Because I had to."

"Did you enjoy it?"

"No." Scar turned his gaze to look at the man.

"I'm curious, what would it take for you to enjoy it?"

"If they made it personal." Scar answered honestly.

"Good answer." Hohenheim said.

Scar glared at one of the most powerful men in city. "Why are you asking me this?"

Hohenheim merely gave him a glance. "As I said, this is the real interview. And I do plan to enjoy it."

Before Scar could respond they'd reached the end of the hallway. Hohenheim pushed the door open and entered. Scar followed, looking around the room.

It was dark, large, and mostly empty. The only light was a single lightbulb in the center. Under the light sat a man in a chair. He was bound and had his head bowed, preventing Scar from making out his face. Around that man stood three more men dressed in black. Scar glanced at Hohenheim who was staring at the scene in front of him. Behind them, the other men in black had stopped as well.

Without a word, Hohenheim moved forward. The way he walked reminded Scar of a lion on the prowl. The man's golden mane only added to that comparison. The lone sound was the echoes of his footsteps. Scar felt a hand give him a small push and he looked back to see Gregory. The lawyer was now frowning and nodded in the direction of Hohenheim. Understanding, Scar followed.

The man in the chair lifted his head at the sound of the approaching footsteps. When they got close enough Scar recognized him as Basque Grand. Another one of the cities most powerful men. But from appearances it looked like that his power had run out.

"Hello Basque." Hohenheim spoke, his voice devoid of all emotion. "I trust your evening has been eventful?" As he spoke, one of the men in black dragged a chair out from the shadows. Moving swiftly he placed the chair in front of Grand and quickly faded back into the darkness. Hohenheim calmly sat down.

"I suppose I should be honored that you personally came here to see me off." Grand smirked as he looked up.

Hohenheim simply sat there and stared. His face neutral, but his eyes ablaze with anger.

"What?" Grand asked. "Not going to say anything?"

"You know why I came here." Hohenheim said.

"Oh, that." Grand sat up in his chair. "I kind of figured that would come back to bite me. Guess it's disqualified me from bowing down like the rest of them."

Hohenheim glared at the man in front of him.

"Now that shit was clever." Grand said. "I wish I had been the one to come up with that. How long did it take you to get all that dirt?"

Hohenheim was silent for a moment before he spoke; completely ignoring Grand's question. "I am not here to honor you as an opponent. I am not here because I respect you. I am here because of my position as a husband and a father."

"Knew it." Grand chuckled. "I really don't know why you're so fucking pissed off about that. She didn't even get hurt."

"You tried to kill my wife." Hohenheim said, his voice growing dark. "My _pregnant_ wife!"

"All's fair in love and war." Grand said nonchalantly.

Hohenheim's face only got darker. "I've committed some of the worst acts that a person could ever do." He said. "But despite that, I personally believe that there are lines that you should never cross."

"You're a fucking fool then." Grand smirked.

Hohenheim's mouth formed a small smile. "If I'm the fool, why am I not the one tied to a chair?" Hohenheim leaned forward, the light creating eerie shadows on his face. "You're finished, Grand. Everything you've worked for; everything you have fought, bled, and killed for, is gone. This city is mine. From its filthiest gutter to the tallest skyscraper. It's all mine." Hohenheim stood up. "You on the other hand will have no legacy, not even a body for them to bury."

Grand let out a laugh. "What ever you say Van...so are you going to do it or what?" He asked.

"No." Hohenheim said. "I'm not."

Hohenheim turned to look at Scar and beckoned him to come closer. Surprised, Scar felt his legs move as he made his way over.

"Scar." Hohenheim said, placing his arm around the Ishvalan's shoulders. "I'd like to introduce you to Basque Grand."

Scar was once again at a lost for words. Grand stared up at him in confusion. Suddenly Scar felt something metal in his hand. He glanced down and saw a loaded pistol. He looked up at Hohenheim, questionably.

"Protect my family." Hohenheim said cooly.

"But don't you-?" Scar started to say.

"I don't let myself follow the whims of my emotions." Hohenheim responded. "And I must know, will you kill a man who has never done any harm to you? Will you kill a man simply because I have told you to?"

Hohenheim stepped back, his eyes staying on Scar. Scar watched Hohenheim step away then looked back at the gun. It was black and shining in his hand. The safety was off. Scar fixed his grip on the weapon and aimed it at the helpless man in front of him, his finger on the trigger. Grand tried to retain his composer as the gun was leveled directly in front of his face. Scar stared down at him. He'd never met this man before. He only knew him by reputation and from pictures in the newspaper. Nothing that this man had done had ever negatively affected Scar's life. Grand had never killed a friend of his. Grand had never taken anything from him. He had no cause whatsoever to murder Basque Grand.

 **Bang!**

The shell of the bullet hit the ground as Basque Grand's corpse sank back in the chair. Blood flowed from the gaping hole between his eyes.

Scar was staring at the man who he had just murdered when he felt a hand on his shoulder. He glanced over to see Hohenheim, whose face was unreadable.

"Do you wish to work for me?" He asked.

Scar nodded.

"Excellent." Hohenheim said, his face breaking into a warm smile. Scar stood there and stared at the smile. Strangely enough, the smile made him feel better. Killing never made him feel strong or powerful, but this smile did. It was like a small boy receiving acceptance from his father. He felt a bizarre sense of accomplishment.

"Time to go." Hohenheim took him around the shoulder and led him away from the scene. He glanced to the side as he saw men with bone saws and plastic wrap approaching the corpse. Looking away quickly, Scar followed his new boss out of the dark building. He became numb to everything around him as the full realization of the night's events hit him. He did not see Gregory come over to him or felt the lawyer shake his hand. He faintly heard Gregory and Hohenheim discussing an employment contract.

He looked around. At the men around them; the men whom he had joined. Joined in the service of a single man. A man who now held all the power that could ever be wanted in this city. Following this man would either lead to great reward or to a painful death. It was that cut and dry; that certain. He was taking a gamble that held the rest of his life in a scale that could very easily tip either way.

"Come Scar."

Scar looked up to see Hohenheim standing by the limo waiting for him.

"We'll need to get you a suit."

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

The TV provided background noise from the living room. In the kitchen, the soft sounds of the water running and the clanking of plates stood out.

"How did the school look?" The light blonde haired man asked his wife as he put the clean plates in the cabinet.

"It looked great." Blue eyes flashed in his direction as she scrubbed the plates in the sink. "The teachers are a bit of a mixed bag though. There's a nice elderly one who seems sweet, but the young one came off as a stiff."

The man chuckled. "I'm sure the two of you are going to get along great."

"Me?" The woman looked over. "I'm more worried about how you'd react if the two of you ever got at it."

"Come on Sarah." The man smirked. "Since when have I ever been overprotective."

Sarah finished with the plates and walked over to her husband wiping her hands. "Do you want me to list chronologically or alphabetically?" She stood on her toes to give her husband a quick kiss.

Urey Rockbell smiled as his wife walked away in her flower sundress. He put the rest of the plates away and followed her out.

When he entered the living room, Sarah grabbed the front of his shirt and pulled him closer with a giggle. Urey grinned into the kiss as he ran his hand through his wife's long blonde hair and placed the other on the small of her back.

A loud, urgent banging at the door interrupted them.

The husband and wife both broke apart and stared at the door startled. The urgent banging continued unabated. The married couple's eyes locked together for a moment before Urey moved over to the door. Sarah stepped back to a drawer that was next to the family couch. Pulling a key from her pocket, she opened the drawer slightly to reveal a handgun. It was preloaded and her finger rested on the safety.

Urey stepped up to the door and looked through the peephole that he had installed.

"My god…" Urey gasped before quickly unlocking the door and flinging it open.

Sarah looked past her husband and her eyes widened at what she saw. There was a very large man standing in the doorframe. He was dressed in a black suit with a black dress shirt and red tie. His eyes were red as well and there was a large x shaped scar on his forehead. He was supporting another man who was bleeding rather heavily. It only took a moment for her to recognize the injured man as Van Hohenheim. Urey reacted immediately.

"Put him on the couch, Scar." Urey beckoned them to come in.

Sarah quickly grabbed a spare blanket and flung it on the couch, covering it just in time for the large scarred man to place Van down.

"Sarah." Urey looked at his wife. "Go get the equipment."

Sarah nodded and quickly exited out of the room. Urey moved over to the couch and kneeled down next to the injured man to examine him. Van's signature brown suit was ruffled and bloodied. His eyes were closed and his face a bit pale. The blood seemed to come from an apparent wound from his lower abdomen.

He looked up at Scar. "Gunshot wound?"

Scar nodded.

"Put pressure on it; I'll be right back." Urey quickly left the room and moved to the kitchen to wash his hands. When he came back he found Sarah setting up a tray of their medical tools. She tossed him a surgical mask and a pair of latex gloves. Once they were on, he stepped back to his patient. The room was now full of men in black suits. Outside he could see men standing in his front yard. Several of them held weapons and appeared to be guarding the premises.

'Please.' Urey thought desperately. 'Please let Winry sleep through all of this.' He then cleared his thoughts and focused on the bleeding man lying on his couch.

"Keep him down." Urey ordered Scar as Sarah, also gloved and masked, moved to his side and began to cut away Van's shirt with a pair of scissors. Underneath it was a bulletproof vest with a tiny bullet hole near the bottom.

"I can keep myself still."

Urey looked down at his friend when he heard his voice. Van had his eyes opened and was looking up at him.

"Long night Van?" Urey sighed as he pulled the injured man up to remove his vest, coat and other shirts.

"You could say that." Van barely winced as he was placed back down on the couch, now topless. "It's good to be the king." He joked dryly.

Urey surveyed the wound. The bullet had pierced Van's vest and punctured his lower abdomen. Since there were no blood stains on the back of Van's jacket, the bullet was still inside of him. Sarah held a light as he apprached the injury with a pair of forceps. The vest had taken the brunt of the impact so there would be little internal damage and the bullet itself did not look to be very deep.

"Am I going to live?" Van asked bluntly.

"As your doctor I recommend that you stop talking." Urey said. "And that you should be at a hospital."

"No hospitals." Van said.

"Who did this-" Urey was cut of by Van talking.

"Scar, is my family safe? Are the children secured?"

Scar nodded. "Yes sir." He spoke in monotone voice. "Mrs. Hohenheim is with them at the mansion. All guards are at the perimeter. They are secure."

"Has anyone informed her about what happened?" Hohenheim spoke like he was talking in his office rather than on a couch with a gunshot wound.

"Not yet, sir." Scar answered. "Shall I get a phone?"

"No." Hohenheim shook his head. "I'll tell her myself, in person, when we arrive home."

"Don't be too eager to be moving around." Urey said as he stretched the wound further to get to the bullet. Hohenheim's breath hitched a little, but his face betrayed no emotion.

"I can give you painkillers." Urey looked at his friend.

"No." Hohenheim ordered. "We have a very time sensitive window and I need a clear head."

"Well then settle in because this is going to hurt." Urey warned as he moved the forceps in.

Again Hohenheim hissed, but gave no other sign that he was in pain.

"Fu." He ordered. Behind Urey, a short, middle aged Xingese man stepped forward. "Did you take any survivors?"

"Yes sir." Fu answered. "One of them only received a glance to his leg and is in perfect condition to be questioned."

"Do it." Hohenheim said darkly. "Then when you're finished take what's left of him and put him in the landfill. If he's still alive by then, leave him." He paused for a moment as Urey fiddled with his bleeding wound. "Scar, send a message to Edison and Clemin. Have them crack down on Madison street and Clement avenue. The shooting that occurred on those streets was nothing more than recent violence by petty unaffiliated criminals. I want that in the newspapers tomorrow as well as a report about the growing tensions among lone wolf thugs in recent weeks. Tonight never happened"

Urey and Sarah both kept quiet as talks of cover up and murder occured around them. It was nothing that they hadn't heard before. They both froze, however, when they heard a small tired voice.

"Mommy? Daddy?"

All eyes in the room turned towards the source of the voice. Standing at the top of the staircase and staring at the scene in front of her was a little girl. She was clad in feety pajamas that had various animals on them. She had blonde hair like her father and bright blue eyes like her mother. Those eyes were wide and confused as they stared at the injured man on her couch.

Sarah and Urey locked eyes before she nodded. Shedding herself of her mask and gloves, Sarah stood and quickly made her way across the room. Van's men parted for her as Sarah quickly made her way over to her daughter and scooped her up.

"Sweetie, what are you doing up at this hour?" She whispered in her daughter's ear as she turned the little girl away from the scene in the living room. "Its way past your bed time."

"I heard noises…what's going on Mommy?" The little girl said as she tried turning her head back to the living room.

"Nothing, sweetie." Sarah cooed as she walked up the stairs back to her daughter's room. "Daddy's helping a friend."

Urey watched his wife take their daughter back to her room before sighing and resuming his work. After several more minutes of careful searching he finally found the bullet.

"Alright Van, I've found the bullet. It's three inches deep, there doesn't appear to be many bullet fragments or damaged organs. The fragments themselves should be easy to remove."

Van's expression didn't change. "Well Doctor, what are you waiting for?"

Urey shook his head and turned back to the wound with a pair of tweezers. Slowly and methodically, he reached into the open wound and eventually grasped the bullet.

"I am now removing the larger bullet fragment." Urey announced to no one in particular. The entire room had gone silent, Scar and Fu had backed the rest of Hohenheim's men out of the living room in order to give Urey space to work.

"Winry's getting big." Van commented out of the blue.

Despite his earlier statement of no talking, Urey wanted to take Van's mind off the pain. Though he really didn't want to discuss his daughter with this man, even if they were old friends.

"She's four now." Urey said quietly as he continued to work on the injury.

"Four?" Van had a small smile on his face. "Same age as Edward." He finished with a chuckle.

Urey simply nodded.

"I'm sorry, Urey." Van said. "I'm sorry she had to see all of this. But you were the only one I could come to."

"No hospitals, huh?" Urey said. "Trying to save face?"

"Let's just say it's beneficial to keep news of this injury contained."

"So how did this happen?" Urey asked.

"Someone aimed a gun and pulled the trigger." Van gave a crooked smile.

Urey sighed. "After everything we did…I thought all this was over. The random violence I mean."

"It's never over." Van's face was once again serious. "There will always be those who want power and they are more than willing to do anything to attain it."

"I take it those that wanted power today are no longer with us?" Urey said with a humorless chuckle. He started sewing the wound shut.

"Not for long." Van answered. "I trust you to keep this visit a secret."

"I don't want any problems for my family." Urey said. "I'm going to be chief of surgery at Central hospital soon. Plus, Winry's about to start school. We have a good thing going here, I don't want any of it to change."

"They won't." Van promised. "I'll stay away."

"Winry is going to live a normal life." Urey said with narrowed eyes. "I don't want her safety to be affected by anything that we did."

"She will, my friend." Van put a hand on Urey's arm. "Your child will never be harmed because of me."

Urey looked into the golden eyes of his old friend and patted the hand on his arm.

"Thank you, Urey."

Urey looked at Van. "Don't mention it Van."

"There's something else I want to ask of you." Hohenheim whispered before he looked back at the staircase. Urey looked over to see Sarah coming down. She gave Urey a nod, telling him that Winry was asleep. Hohenheim pulled Urey back closer.

"I want you to have _it_."

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 _Ding_

The bell above the door rang as it opened, telling everyone in the small shop that someone has either entered or exited.

A young man looked at the short list that he had made for himself. It wasn't much. Some bread, apples, oranges, and….milk?

"Screw you, Envy." The golden eyed man bunched up the piece of paper and stuffed it into a pocket of his black leather coat. The offending word was written in large, uneven letters. Under it was a distorted smiley face.

Irritated, the young man moved through the door to collect the items that he actually came here for. Moving from aisle to aisle he collected them. Personally, he liked getting food at small establishments like this. It was easier for him to blend in. In the bread aisle there was a little middle aged woman trying to get some cornbread at the top of the shelf. Reaching up, he grabbed one and handed it down to her. Smiling gratefully, the woman took it and put it in her basket. The young man returned the smile and moved to get the rest of his groceries. When he was done, he got in line for checkout. He took his phone out when he felt it vibrate. It was from Alphonse.

 _Dad needs you here tonight. No skipping, I mean it!_

The young man sighed and answered.

 _Doesn't he have enough people for tonight? Fine! I'll be there._

"Hey buddy, come on! There's a line behind you."

The young man glanced up to see a impatient bald man standing at the cashier. The bald man opened his mouth to say something else, but froze when he got a good look at the young man in front of him.

The golden hair and golden eyes were dead giveaways.

"M-Mr. H-H-Hohenheim!" The man stuttered. "I mean Elric, no wait! I didn't know it was you! I..I.I-"

"It's fine." Edward Elric said with a sigh. "Just let me buy these." He put his groceries on the surface.

"No!" The man said. "No need, I mean. You can have it all, it's free."

Edward was about to open his mouth when suddenly a car loudly pulled up next to the store. He turned to look at it through the large window. A car window opened and some guy stuck his upper body out of it. He looked like some street punk with weirdly colored hair.

Suddenly the punk pulled out a gun and aimed it at the store.

Edward's eyes widened before he dove to the ground. Several shots rang out in succession as glass shattered and people screamed. Ed suddenly felt a wet substance land on him, and he heard the familiar thudding sound of a body hitting the ground. Looking up from his position on the floor, he saw the middle aged woman whom he had helped earlier. She was dead with a bullet hole in her head.

Anger filled Ed as he heard the sound of car's occupants laughing and the car driving away. Ed sprang to his feet, his hand moving under his coat. He jumped over the apple stand, using it to propel himself through the frame of the shattered window. He landed on the street, his coat flowing behind him. In his hand he held his signature silver Beretta 92FS. Standing up from the ground, he saw the car driving away. The car was moving erratically, swerving from side to side.

Walking into the middle of the road, Edward carefully took aim. He held the large handgun for several moments before he fired.

The back left tire of the car exploded. The vehicle, already driving recklessly, spun out of control and swirled to the side walk. It hit the curve and rode up the side of a street lamp. The car flipped and landed on its back with a loud crash.

Edward stared at the crash for several moments in surprise. Around him, people on the sidewalk were running away and those in their cars were swerving quickly to get away.

Later, if any of their friends had asked. They'd say that they didn't see a damn thing.

Groaning from the wrecked car caught Edward's attention. With narrowed eyes, he started to cautiously walk towards the crash. His arm at his side as he held the gun.

He walked slowly, the only sounds were the distant noises of the city and the thud of his boots against the pavement.

One of the windows of the car was suddenly kicked out. It was followed by one of the car's dazed occupants climbing out. The front of his face was covered in blood and he stood on shaky feet; a pistol clutched sloppily in his hand. Edward recognized him as the weirdly colored one who had had been shooting. Lifting his gun, Edward didn't hesitate as he pulled the trigger. The bullet hit the man right in the chest and propelled him to the ground. Edward lowered his weapon and continued to walk towards the car. As he walked around the wreck he saw that the driver had been flung through the windshield. His corpse was laying about 10 feet away from the car, a long smear of blood following him.

Shaking his head at the gruesome scene; Ed sat down on the curve. The gun coming to a rest on his thigh. He gave a sigh and clenched his eyes shut; the adrenaline was still running through his body. A pained moan caught Ed's attention. Opening his eyes, Edward saw another body was hanging out of the windshield on the passenger's side. Glass was embedded in the man's face and in one of his eyes. The way his neck was twisted told Ed that it was broken. Still, by the way that he was moaning, Ed could tell that he was in incredible pain. There was a large pool of blood forming under the man. This guy wasn't going to make it to the hospital. Ed's free hand touched the blood stain on his coat, the blood of the old woman from the store. Ed distantly thought of how he'd left his groceries back in the store.

With a sigh, Ed pushed himself up and strolled over to the front of the wreck. The guy was still moaning and gasping in pain. His face was angled so that Ed could see the damage. He could also see the guy's remaining good eye. It was dilated.

"Coked up assholes." Ed muttered as he looked down at the man. Actually man didn't really describe him; he couldn't be older then 19. The sounds of police sirens were slowly getting louder, but Ed remained unconcerned.

"Please…" The man in the car begged as his watery blood shot eye looked at Ed.

Silently, Ed raised his gun and pulled the trigger.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **So that's the first chapter of this story. It's great to finally get this story going. I hope you liked it. After Princess Bride, I wanted to do something different so I decided to do a crime story. I've noticed there are several stories where Ed's a police officer or is some form of law enforcement. I thought it would be interesting if someone did the opposite of that.**

 **This story is going to be darker than Princess Bride and I think Little Lambs. It's going to be more graphic and the characters are going to be darker. But don't worry, I'll try to keep them likable enough. I'm sure you all can handle some dark characters. This is going to be an interesting story to write and I hope I can pull it off. And of course this is going to be an eventual slow burn EdWin. I don't know if I could make a FMA fic without them. I'm not sure about other pairings but we'll see.**

 **Please review and give me your feedback on this chapter and the story idea. I'm still developing some parts of this, so suggestions are greatly appreciated. Thank you, I hope you all enjoy this story.**

 **Mediafan**


	2. Chapter 2

**I'd like to thank BakaFangirl for making the wonderful cover art for this story.**

 **I'm actually kind of surprised that the first chapter got so much attention. I wasn't expecting 6 reviews until like chapter three. So thank you to everyone who reviewed, favorited, and followed this story and I hope you enjoy chapter 2.**

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Central City:**

Maria had been a police officer for five years.

Officer Maria Ross of the Central City Police Department, Precinct 23. At age 19, Maria had decided that she wanted to be an officer and joined the academy. Her reasoning for joining the force was that she wanted to make something of herself, and not end up like the other girls from her street. Now, at age 28, Ross was a promising up and coming officer with a bright future ahead of her. The reason for this was that more or less, she knew how things in Central worked.

Van Hohenheim was the king.

And this city was his kingdom.

With that in mind, Ross listened to dispatch describing a 10-71, or shooting, on Calvary Street. Dispatch also mentioned that the callers had reported the involvement of Edward Elric.

"Edward Elric!" Her partner, Danny Brosh, exclaimed in surprise. He was currently driving the squad car at the moment; the vehicle swerved slightly as a result of his excitement. Maria narrowed her eyes as she picked up the radio to answer dispatch.

"10-4, dispatch." She answered. "Enroute, over."

"Whoa! Hold on there, Maria. Shouldn't we at least talk about this?" Danny asked. "I mean…Edward Elric! Do you want to get involved in that kind of situation?"

"It's our job Danny." Maria looked over at him. "We can't ignore a call."

Her partner gulped nervously, but turned the cruiser towards Calvary Street nonetheless. "Sorry Maria...it's just…" He trailed off anxiously.

"I know." She said quietly as she glanced at the sidewalks whizzing by. "Hey." Maria looked over at her partner. "Think about it like this, at least it's not Envy."

Danny let out a nervous chuckle, but didn't look totally convinced. "Yeah...it could be worse...Edward Elric isn't nearly as bad as Envy...as far as we know." Maria gave her partner a small, reassuring smile and squeezed his shoulder.

The rest of the drive continued in a tense silence; neither of them knew what exactly they were driving into. Soon they were coming up on Calvary Street. The police cruiser took a right and they had reached their destination.

The vehicle came to a stop as Ross and Danny surveyed the scene. In front of them was the store that had been described by dispatch. It's large front window had been shattered, no doubt from the gun fire. Further down the road there was an overturned vehicle.

Maria picked up the radio. "10-23, Dispatch." She said into it. "No signs of an active shooter. We are moving in. Requesting back up, over." She pulled out her standard firearm and opened the side door cautiously. Her eyes traveled back and forth from the store to the crash.

"Brosh." She called to her partner who had also exited the car. "Check the store. I'll check the crash." Maria held her weapon at the ready as she moved towards the wrecked vehicle. Behind her, Brosh quickly entered the store. Maria slowly made her way towards the car. The street was completely empty and eerily silent. The tall grey buildings stood all around her like giant sentinels; watching her. Next to the crashed vehicle was a dented and bent street lamp. It looked like the car had smashed into it. Next to the car there was a body sprawled out on the street. Maria grimaced when she saw the slowly expanding pool of blood still forming beneath it.

"Shit, we have a 10-100. Jesus, there's nothing we can do for her." She suddenly heard Danny's voice from the small radio attached to her vest. "There are five other civilians in here. All unarmed and no injuries. No signs of the shooter. What's your situation, Ross?"

"Still investigating the vehicle. Nothing so far." Maria glanced cautiously back at the store before looking back at the car. As she got closer, she saw that the nearby corpse had a gun lying next to its hand.

"Possible shooter is down." She said into her radio before raising her pistol and continuing forward. As Ross moved around the vehicle, she froze and had to hold back at gasp. In front of her was one of the more grisly scenes of her career, and that was saying a lot.

There was another body about 10 feet away from the car. A large crimson smear of blood ran across the pavement from the crash to where the corpse lay. 'He must have been thrown from the car and scraped against the pavement.' Maria thought as she felt her lunch threatening to come back up. What was left of the man's face was staring directly at her. His right eye looked to be slightly dislodged as the left side of his face appeared to have been almost rubbed off completely. His mouth was stuck open in a silent scream of agony.

Glancing to her left, Ross found a third body. It was hanging halfway out of the broken windshield. The mangled body was twisted with blood pooling out and around it. The top of the man's decimated head looked to have been shot off. Pieces of his skull and brains were scattered across the car's interior.

However, her attention was quickly caught by the sounds of shoes scraping against pavement. Maria whipped around, but froze at what she saw. Directly in front of her was a different sight. A young man was sitting on the edge of the sidewalk. One of his legs was stretched out in front of him, while the other was pulled back against his chest. His right arm was resting on the bent leg. In said arm's hand was a handgun.

Maria was about to order the man to drop his gun when the ability to speak died in her throat. Her body went rigid when golden eyes flashed in her direction. Eyes from a head crowned in golden hair.

It was Edward Elric.

Elric's eyes initially held a suspicious look them, but soon they became a fierce glare. He looked over her face before moving down to her gun, which was right now pointed directly at him. His eyes narrowed and moved back up to her's, a daring look in his amber irises. With shaky hands Maria carefully lowered her gun. Elric's penetrating gaze lingered on her for several more moments before he looked away with a slight scoff and a shake of his head. Maria silently let out a sigh of relief. It was unnerving to have eyes of that color pointed at her. Elric was now staring silently in front of him, an unreadable expression on his face. Maria cleared her throat. This was the first time that she had ever encountered a member of the Hohenheim family.

"Mr. Hohenheim." She said in a quiet voice. "A-Are y-you alright?" She instantly regretted opening her mouth as soon as those eyes slowly trained on her again.

Elric's face was unreadable as he glanced at her sideways. With another shake of his head, he stood up slowly. Maria cautiously watched the gun still resting firmly in his hand. He gave a cold chuckle, raking his free hand through his hand.

"Yeah, officer, I'm alright." He mumbled with a slightly sarcastic tone. "No need to worry."

He put his gun in his coat, where its holster no doubt was. Maria looked the young man up and down, seeing that his attention was no longer on her. His hair was long and braided, like she'd seen in photographs. His facial features were sharp and pointed. She had heard several of her girlfriends say they thought he was very attractive. Right now, Maria didn't see anything attractive about him at all. The look in his eyes and the controlled facial expressions sent chills down her spine. He was dangerous, powerful and it scared her. She looked from the man in front of her to the corpse with the blown off skull. Despite her lack of forensics it looked like the gun shot injury came after the crash. That man's other injuries looked to have rendered him defenseless. If so, he would have been no threat to anyone. But the top of his head off had still been blown off. Maria looked back at Elric. He was looking of into the distance, seemingly unconcerned with the violent scene around him. His hands tucked into the pockets of his black coat.

Murder.

Although Maria was no homicide detective either, she knew that this was murder. She could arrest him right now. She could drag him to the police station and book him for shooting a defenseless man. A case could definitely be made.

But that would only end with her suffering.

One way or another she would suffer. Any case that could be made would be ignored before it could even be thrown out. She would only lose her job, if Elric was in a merciful mood. She could just as easily wind up floating face down in the river. If it wasn't her, then it would be Danny or her family who'd be hurt instead. Either way, it was never going to end well. After all, the Hohenheim family was royalty and this city was their kingdom.

She holstered her weapon.

Because she knew how things worked in Central.

The blaring sounds of an ambulance came from the direction of the store and caught Maria's attention. She looked over and saw Danny greeting the paramedics as they arrived.

"This was self-defense."

Maria turned in surprise to see Elric staring right at her. His golden eyes dark and piercing.

"Sir?" She asked, unsure if she had really heard him.

"Self-defense." Elric repeated, his voice cold as he quickly walked forward until he was practically hovering over her. Maria was too nervous to move away and could only stare up at him. Elric's face was hardened and unreadable. "That's what this was. These coked up pricks fired at me first, so I shot them back."

Maria didn't trust herself to speak so she nodded.

"Say what this was." He ordered, his voice a quiet growl.

"What?" She couldn't stop herself from asking.

"What was this? Tell me!" He repeated angrily as he took a step towards her. She involuntarily took one back. Elric didn't seem to notice this and waited in chilling silence for her to speak. She stared back at him with wide eyes. 'At least it's not Envy.' She told herself in her head before speaking. "S-Self defense." Maria stuttered before clearing her throat. "Self defense."

Elric looked at her skeptically for a few seconds. "Good." He said eventually.

Suddenly, several black vehicles came racing around the corner and screeched to a halt near the store. Maria instinctively reached for her gun, but was stopped by a pointed glare from Elric. Men came swarming out of the vehicles, all of them dressed in either dark suits or street clothes. A young Xingese man with long black hair emerged from the closest car. His quickly spotted the two of them and raced over.

"Edward, are you are alright?" The man asked as he stopped in from of Elric, ignoring Maria entirely. "We heard what happened!"

Maria expected Elric to respond, but he didn't. She glanced over to find him to be, in fact, staring at her. His piercing glare caused Maria to look away and she decided to go check on her partner. As she walked away she vaguely heard the two men talking in hushed whispers. Ross walked around the crashed vehicle when she suddenly heard Elric call out to her.

"Officer."

She spun around to see Elric walking over to her. The Xingese man was where she had last seen him, watching them.

"Sir?" She asked as Elric walked up to her. Maria felt her heart beat faster in her chest as he came closer. What could he want from her?

Elric glanced behind her at the paramedics moving into the store for a few moments before looking back at her.

"A woman was killed back there in the store." Elric reached into his pocket and pulled out a card. "If she has any relatives have them call this number. It'll connect them with my family's lawyer. He'll assist in any funeral expenses."

Maria silently took the card and looked at it. The name on the card was Gregory Ethan Dalhmen. Above this name in capital letters were the initials 'G.R.E.E.D'.

She blinked in surprise and turned back to speak with Elric, but he was gone. Maria turned back to the convoy of black vehicles to see Elric and the Xingese man climbing into an expensive looking limo. The doors were quickly closed behind them and like that, the dark convoy drove away.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **The Ouroboros:**

Her gloved finger nails clicked on the flat wooden surface.

Solaris Bailey looked down at the dance floor of her club as the staff prepared for the night's events. She could faintly hear her heeled foot tapping absentmindedly as she leaned back into her seat. The window separating her from the large room on the other side was a one way mirror. She could see them, but they couldn't see her. Often times she'd wonder if their work etiquette would change if they knew when their boss was watching. Half of them were terrified of her while the other were positively enamored. Her sharp eyes moved from one member of the male setup crew to the other. Watching for any sign that they weren't doing their jobs. She had no patience for weakness and always enjoyed dealing out punishments. The Ouroboros was the most frequented club in the entire city so she couldn't leave any room for sloppiness.

Seeing none, Solaris stood up from the desk and walked away from the large window. Her long legs moving gracefully under her smoothed black dress. As she came to a stop in front of her desk, she could hear labored breaths coming from outside the door of her office. A smirk formed on her plump lips as the door to the office opened and a large figure entered.

"Back so soon Gluttony?" Solaris always seemed to speak in a sensual, husky voice, even when talking to her half-brother. "Well, what's the news?" She leaned back to sit on her desk and crossed her legs.

"Edward...Edward Elric was shot at!" The large man exclaimed, slightly out of breath.

Solaris raised an eyebrow. "Really?" She purred. "And by the way you phrased that, I assume that he survived?"

Gluttony nodded.

"Hmm, he's always been a lucky boy." Solaris chuckled, one of her hands came up to push her luscious black hair behind her ear. "Now who would have the balls to try and kill Central's little prince?"

"They were nobodies." Gluttony's voice was high pitched. "A bunch of drugged up nobodies."

"Oh." She said, her smirk thinning slightly. "Now that's not interesting at all. Shame. When you came running into my office with such grand excitement, I thought you had a bombshell for me."

"I thought you'd want to know." Gluttony said somewhat meekly.

"Oh don't worry Gluttony dear." Solaris said, soothingly. "I'm happy you told me." She sighed and laid back onto her desk.

"Do you ever just wonder how exhilarating it would be if something did happen to one of Van's precious little babies?" She asked, staring up at the ceiling.

"What about Edgar?" Gluttony asked quietly. Solaris stilled for a moment before her smirk returned.

"Now why would you go and try to make me sad?" Solaris sat up, legs still crossed, with a pouty look on her face.

"I wasn't...I was just…" Gluttony's mind went blank as he tried to think of a response. His sister always seemed to find amusement in getting him tongue tied.

"Now, now, Gluttony." Solaris said softly. "I'm only teasing. Do try to relax a little; it makes living a lot more fun." She stood up and walked over to him, her heels clicking loudly. "Won't you be a dear and find out how Van's reacting to this little incident? You know how I just adore gossip." She gave Gluttony a pat on the head.

Gluttony nodded enthusiastically and turned to waddle out of the room.

'You can choose your friends, but you can't choose your family.' Solaris thought fondly as she sauntered back to her desk. Turning around in her seat, she looked over the large scene in front of her. Her gaze stopped and zeroed in on a staff member who had stopped working and was smoking right in the middle of everything. She gave a small growl. Her gloved hand reached over to press a button on a speaker.

"Wilson!" Her voice boomed loud and clear across the building. "Come to my office right now!"

Even from here Solaris could see the growing look of fear on his face. She smirked.

This was going to be fun.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Some alley:**

 _Crack_

"Aaarrgghh!"

 _Whack_

"Aaacckkk!"

 _Thud_

The man who was just kicked in the face fell onto his back. His head collided violently with the pavement, causing him to see stars.

A kick to his side rolled him into a fetal position as he continued to lay there. His eyes opened just long enough to see someone holding a garbage can above him.

"Wait!" His mouth was still open when a mess of old garbage was dumped on him. It rained down on him, getting into his mouth and nose. Attempts to breath were blocked by the trash so he ended up spitting it all out. With a groan, the battered man rolled into his stomach and slowly started to crawl away.

Ling stepped back, trash can in hand, and looked over at Edward. Edward watched the man whose blood was currently staining his gloves and followed him as he crawled away.

"Please...please...don't kill me, Mr. Hohenheim." The man begged, not looking up from the ground. Ed raised his foot and brought in down hard on the man's hand. The man screamed as he felt his hand shatter under Ed's heavy boot.

Ed stepped back from the man as he started sobbing into his arms, his bloody hand twitching. Ed rolled his eyes.

"Look at me." He said.

The man didn't move and continued to whimper.

"Look at me!" Ed said louder. His voice echoed around the alley they were in. Right now Ling had moved to the end of it, blocking anyone's view of what was happening.

The man slowly turned his head to look up at him. He was a thirty something nobody. Ed had found him standing at the corner of a street easily.

"Please." The man begged. "I'm just trying to make a living."

"Your living got four people killed." Ed said darkly, his fists clenched at his side. "It almost got me killed!" He reached down and grabbed the man by the hair and yanked him up. The man gave a whimpered cry at the painful tug of his hair and yelled out when Ed's raised his fist again.

"I'm sorry." The man sobbed, falling on his back in a pathetic mess. "I didn't know they were going to shoot people. I just sell the stuff, I've got no control over how people use them or what they do!"

Ed reached down again and grabbed the man by his shirt. Standing him up, Ed slammed him against the wall. His hand was around the man's throat. The man continued to whimper pathetically as sharp gold glared at him. Ed's grip was like steel, he could feel himself crushing the man's airways. The man could feel it too, if the absolute terror in his eyes said anything.

Suddenly Ed stepped away, removing his hand from the man's throat.

"Go." He pointed his arm to the end of the alley.

"What?" The bloody and bruised man gasped, confused.

"Leave the city." Ed's voice left no room for argument as his eyes blazed like fire. "If you ever come back you're going to meet a close relative of mine who would have already killed you ten times by now."

The man didn't hesitate to start running, tripping over himself as he fled. Ling stepped the side, giving the man a smile and a nod as he passed. Ed simply glared at him as he ran away.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **The Devil's Nest:**

"You think it was just some kids?" The blond haired man asked as he stared at the city through the large, glass window.

"So far it looks like it." The voice on the other end of the phone said. "I haven't seen the footage yet, but Pitt claims that they were on the shorter side."

"Well if it turns out you're right, call Lieutenant Clemins and have him send some collars to give them a scare." Alphonse Hohenheim ordered into the phone.

"Yes, sir." The voice answered. "And if my theory is wrong?"

"I'm sure Ed's told you what to do in those type of situations." Al answered. "Thanks for the call Russell, get back to me when you figure it out."

"I will sir." Russell Tringham answered. "Have a pleasant dinner."

Alphonse closed his flip phone and stared back out at the city. As he did this the sounds of people chattering and plates clinking seemed to come back to him. Turning away from the window, Al walked back to where he had been sitting. His leather dress shoes clicked on the floor as he calmly glanced at his watch.

'They're late, as usual.' Al thought with a sigh.

The Devil's Nest was packed as per usual. Rich socialites and politicians laughed and chattered away as the best food in the whole city was served to them. It was almost funny how the restaurant that had the best of everything was owned by the man who went by the nickname Greed. Alphonse made his way to the quietest and most excluded area of the restaurant; the VIP, or platinum, section.

It was a rounded booth with the most comfortable leather cushioned seating in the entire restaurant. The section had its own waiters and personal cook. The barrier that gave it privacy had a plaque that read 'Hohenheim and Associates'. The table inside of it was made of carefully carved wood from some type of strong, yet endangered foreign tree. Alphonse was pretty sure that this table was illegal. But who gave a shit?

Certainly not Greed.

Alphonse took a seat and drummed his fingers against the morally questionable table surface. His other hand moved up to loosen the tie around his neck. If he was going to have to wait, he might as well be comfortable. He was about to unbutton his jacket when he heard the sound of footsteps approaching. Al glanced up to see a waitress carrying a rather expensive looking bottle of wine. She smiled brightly at him as she placed it down.

"Complements from Mr. Dalhmen." She spoke in a breathy voice; her eyes sparkling at him. "He sent this note as well."

She reached into her unnecessarily exposed cleavage and pulled out a small folded paper. Al had looked away when he'd seen where her hand had been going and accepted the note without looking the woman directly in the eye. Other men might have looked or blushed, but Al kept a composed face.

'Ed or Envy would have enjoyed that.' He thought with a small chuckle as he glanced at the girl's retreating back. Looking down, he read the words on the small paper.

 _You know I'm right. Do try to convince him of the same._

Al read the words and sighed. Greed certainly wasn't going to pull any punches. He folded the note back up and placed it off to the side. Taking the bottle in his hand he looked at the label.

'Chateau Margaux?' Al read and couldn't help but roll his eyes. Now this definitely demonstrated Greed's desire to get his way. What a conniving piece of shit. Al glanced away from the bottle as he heard a voice a small distance away.

"Come this way, Mr. Elric."

Al moved to stand up as his brother and Ling Yao made their way up the stairs.

"Nice to see you're still in one piece." Al said, unable to keep the smirk off his face.

"It's nice to still be in one piece." Ed smirked back.

Al pulled Ed into a brief embrace before stepping back. The two brothers looked each other up and down. It had been a few days since they'd last seen each other.

Al was, as usual, dressed in a grey business suit. Standing at 6'2, he was a few inches taller than Ed's 5'11. The differences didn't end there. Al's hair and eyes were a darker shade of gold. He also kept his hair shorter and trimmed; unlike his older brother, who kept his hair long. He wore suits while Ed usually wore leather jackets and jeans.

"So." Ed said as they moved to take their seats. "How's your day been?"

"Certainly less exciting than yours. Business as usual at the Xerxes." Al told him. "Pitt caught another person trying to read the cards. He only got off with a broken hand and a shattered nose."

"Who was the man dealing?" Ed asked.

"Carlos." Al answered.

"Fuck. That's the third time somebody's been caught hustling him." Ed said with an annoyed sigh.

"I've already recommended that he'd be relocated to the slot machines." Al informed him. "Russell is implementing a more suitable candidate. There was a slight complication with the guy who was doing the counting. Turned out he was one of Tucker's most profitable boys. That kept us from braking both of his hands. Shou didn't appreciate the damage we caused to his face."

"If that creep wants his pretty boys to stay pretty, he should of taught them how to play by the rules." Ed casually popped the cork of the bottle and quickly poured it into a glass. Not even looking at the brand.

"Certainly your most principal quality." Al leaned back with a raised eyebrow. "Following the rules."

"They're _our_ rules." Ed smirked. "So fuck em."

"What would your father have to say to that?" Ling asked as he waved the waitress down.

"He'd say you've been spending too much time around Envy." Al drawled.

"Ok, calm down teacher's pet." Ed said. "Don't do Envy the injustice of comparing my actions to his."

"Well when someone's the 'special' one, in the family it's hard to compete with him." Al said with a smirk.

Ed's mouth turned into a slight frown, but choose not to say anything in rebuttal. Instead he looked at Ling.

"Did you ever give Lan Fan that coat I told you about?" He asked. "You know, the one with actual fox fur."

Ling's face lit up slightly. "As a matter of fact I did! She hates it. Despises everything about it and almost stabbed me with the scissors she used to destroy it." He ended his sentence with a smile. A moment of silence past before either Elric spoke.

"I don't get you two." Al said as he rolled his eyes.

"What's not to get?" Ling asked confused.

"You annoy the hell out of her on purpose and she tries to kill you. You two do that shit all the time." Ed put in. "How the hell can that work as a relationship?"

"You two lonely bastards wouldn't understand." Ling said as he folded his arms with his eyes closed. "You aren't in love."

Ed and Al glanced at each other. Al shrugged while Ed rolled his eyes.

"She's also a black belt and that's really hot!" Ling opened his eyes with a big grin. For a guy in his mid twenties, Ling could act pretty childish sometimes.

For several more minutes the three friends conversed pleasantly until the waitress came up to take their orders. Her outfit was unnecessary flashy which quickly caught Ed's attention. The older Elric's eyes followed her movements and the corners of his mouth turned upwards. Al glanced over to see his brother's eyes moving up and down the young woman's body.

'Ever the lady's man.' He sighed before realizing the waitress was waiting for him to order. "Oh...uh...the Wagyu Kobe Steak." He looked up from the menu to the curly haired girl. She nodded with a smile and turned to Ed.

"Let's see…" Ed muttered as he looked for the menu. "I think I'll go for the Bluefin Tuna."

The waitress smiled and collected the menu's before heading down the stairs, her heels clicking on the steps. Al stared at Ed as his brother watched the waitresses' hips sway with each step. He coughed to get his older brother's attention.

"So…" Ed said, looking back to the table. "Anyone hear from Envy? I haven't seen that asshole in days."

"He's been busy." Ling said.

"Anything interesting?" Ed asked, curious of what his other brother was doing.

"The usual shit." Ling drawled.

Ed looked at Ling for a moment before shaking his head. "Anything specific?"

"Dad has him shaking up some other small time dealers on the southside." Al said. "He's probably going to call a meeting soon to talk about this."

"It's heartwarming to know that my near-death experience warrants such a reaction." Ed chuckled.

"Sorry to disappoint, but that's not the main reason. More so it's the last straw." Al said. "Drug trafficking in Central has been on Dad's mind for quite some time now. Did you know that no major player has taken hold of it yet? Right now it's just a bunch of punks selling merchandise behind dumpsters and in back alleys. Greed's been saying that we should be the first to make a real stake in it."

Ed's eyes shifted around, taking in the surrounding restaurant. "So that's why you wanted to eat here." He muttered before his gaze meet his brother's. "You and Greed set this up to try and get me on your side." He picked up the bottle of wine. "What, were you trying to bribe me with this shit?"

"No." Al said. "I wanted to talk to you and convince you that we're right."

"Why all this trouble?" Ed asked, throwing a hand up to point at the restaurant all around them. "It's not like I'm the one with the final word. If this is the right thing to do than the old man will do it."

"You know father has always stayed away from the drug business. But ignoring the issue isn't going to make it just go away." Al said, staring back at his brother. Ling took a sip out of his glass of water as he looked off into the distance nonchalantly. "And you experienced first hand today what rampant drugs in this city could lead to." Al continued. "If father is still unsure, your voice could sway him."

Ed scoffed as this.

"Hey, he values your opinion more than you realize. Tell him that incidents like the one that happened today aren't good for anyone; especially us." There was a brief moment of silence as the two brothers looked at each other. After a moment Ed shrugged nonchalantly. "I'm sure the old man'll listen to Greed. I've got no objections."

It was at this moment that the food arrived. Service was usually very quick at the Devil's Nest. Especially for the VIP section. The waitress was back as several servers placed the food down.

"We hope you enjoy your meals." She said brightly, before giving a small bow.

Ed glanced up at her before his lips once again morphed into a grin. "I hope you don't mind me asking, but what's your name?"

The young woman stood up fully with a different kind of smile on her face. "Penny." She said. She took a few steps towards Ed and crouched down to whisper in his ear.

"Mr. Dalhmen wanted me to personally deliver a message to you." Her breath was hot against his ear.

Ed's grin widened. "What kind of message?" He asked.

"I don't think right here is the best place to discuss that." She whispered back. "I'm free to discuss wherever you want after your meal." She took his hand and placed it on the inside of her right thigh. Ed ran his hand up the smooth flesh until his thumb touched the edge of her underwear. It was lace.

"I'll be there." Ed said, his voice deep. Penny smiled flirtatiously before walking away to another table.

Ed couldn't help the amused smile that formed on his face. A long time ago, he had realized that women easily look to him. His handsome, pointed features and flashing grin made them putty in his hands. His family's immense wealth and power were bonuses.

With women on his mind, Ed looked at the two other people sitting across from him. Ling had Lan Fan. She was the granddaughter of Fu, one of his father's oldest and most trusted lieutenants. Al, on the other hand, didn't really concern himself too much with women or relationships in general. He dedicated most of his time to being the co-director of him and Ed's casino, The Xerxes, or with other parts of the family business. Envy thought he was either gay or just a teacher's pet. Ed slept better at night when he didn't think about Envy's love life.

Ed, himself, wasn't interested in any long term relationship like Ling's. No he preferred ones with no strings attached. It just kept things simple. He liked it that way for one reason. He could just walk away from it without it coming back to hurt him.

His father hadn't been that lucky.

Ed never wanted to end up like that.

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 **And that was chapter 2.**

 **I kind of fell in love with the character of Lust. The scene was supposed to be shorter, but I really got into it. I think I'm gonna have a lot of fun with her character. Just so people aren't confused; I might as well mention that Lust will only go by the name Solaris. With Envy, Greed, and Gluttony it'd be weird having to explain why another character has a sin nickname. Bailey is the last name of Lust's voice actress. If a character doesn't have a last name, I usually use their actor's name. I previously did that with Barry in Little Lambs.**

 **I should mention how the chapters in this story will be organized. This fic will have multiple characters and multiple subplots. So some chapters may feel like a Game of Thrones episode. Also, if your confused why Ed is referred to by both Elric and Hohenheim, that will be explained in a later chapter.**

 **Please Review! I love your feedback.**


	3. Chapter 3

**Thank you for your reviews!**

 **Unfortunately, I should mention that updates will probably be slow. I'll try to get chapters out as quickly as I can, but to be honest it'll probably be an update every few weeks if I'm lucky.**

 **Hope you enjoy.**

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Maria stared at the cheap bobblehead of Micky Mouse which sat on her desk. She'd gotten it as a little girl when she and her family had traveled to Disney World. It was the only vacation that they had ever gone on as a family and it was the best memory of her childhood. That's why she still kept it with her so many years later. The bobblehead served as a comfort for whenever life got too tough.

Today was just one of those days.

Maria had just gotten back from patrol and Danny had left to pick up his little sister from a play date. Reaching forward, she poked the big eared head and watched it bobble. It did so for a few moments until it came to a stop and those big painted eyes continued to stare at her. Letting out a sigh, Ross rested her head in her hand. Around her, Maria could hear the buzz and activity of her Police Precinct.

"For the last time, Jean. Smoke your damn cigarettes outside!"

"It's a free country Breda."

Ross glanced at the open door where the voices were coming from. They belonged to Detectives Jean Havoc and Heymans Breda whose desks were down the hallway. For some reason, voices traveled far in this building. Must have been a mistake in the architecture since this place was very old. Listening to her bickering coworkers caused Maria to give a small smile. Detective Jean Havoc was a handsome blond who was practically a chain smoker who always seemed to have a bud in his mouth. Officers were allowed to smoke indoors, much to the annoyance of Breda whose desk was right next to Havoc's.

"Officer Ross?"

Maria jumped as the familiar voice cut through the officer's thoughts. She quickly looked up and her eyes widened in surprise when Ross saw who was standing by her desk.

"Captain Mustang?"

Captain Roy Mustang looked down at her with his usual serious face. But the slightest hint of a teasing smile was there.

"Having a rough day, Maria?" He asked in his quiet yet deep voice.

Maria sat straighter in her chair and tried to look more professional.

"No, sir, I'm fine." She knew it didn't work when he arched an eyebrow.

Mustang's eyes softened. "Come on Ross, you could use a drink."

"But I'm-" Maria tried to say.

"Your shift ended 5 minutes ago." Mustang told her with a chuckle. "Keep an eye on the clock."

Mustang turned around and began to walk towards the exit. He turned to look back at Maria.

"Are you coming officer?"

Maria quickly stood up and grabbed her coat. After making sure her wallet was there, she moved to follow the detective.

About 10 minutes later Maria was sitting in a bar across the street from the her Precinct. It was a small establishment that was often frequented by off duty cops. At the moment Maria sat, staring at the untouched beer in front of her. To say she was uncomfortable would be an understatement. Maria had been at Mustang's precinct for about a year, yet she'd only interacted with her superior on a professional level. So it was quite odd that he suddenly asks her to accompany him for a drink out of the blue...and there were the unconfirmed rumors of his womanizing tendencies. But besides that, Maria had been on edge ever since the-

"I read your report of the Calvary Street shooting from last week."

Mustang's voice once again startled her, causing Maria to jump. A quick glance to the side showed that Roy was staring at her. Maria felt her cheeks flush with embarrassment and also from the look in his eyes. She quickly regained her composure however and responded.

"I'm sure the detective's was more informative." Maria responded to the senior detective.

"I wouldn't say that. Your's was just as thorough, more so actually. Ever considered becoming a detective?" Mustang complemented with a grin before his face became serious. "I take it that was your first time?"

"Excuse me?" Her eyes narrowed.

"Your first on-duty encounter with a member of the Hohenheim family." He clarified, turning to look at the wall in front of them. "How long have you been on the force, Maria?"

"Five years, sir." She answered.

"Five years, huh?" Mustang took a swig. "Good for you for being able to stay clear of them for that long. That's got to be a department record."

"I didn't do it on purpose. I've never turned down a call." Maria said in a hurried voice before calming down. "I don't know, I guess I…I was just lucky."

"But everyone's luck has to run out." Mustang said with a sigh. "Tell me what happened at the shooting."

Maria's brow furrowed. "You said you read the reports, sir."

"I did." Mustang spoke nonchalantly. "I just want to hear it from your own mouth."

Maria looked up at him. "Uhhh, an attempt was made on Mr. Hohenheim's life and he then acted in self defense."

Mustang leaned forward. "Tell me what really happened at the shooting; I saw the toxicology reports for the shooters' bodies. What did Elric do?"

Maria bit her lip. Was this some sort of test? She stared into the dark eyes of her commanding officer and decided to trust him.

"He murdered those men." She answered. "He could get away with one of them since the body had a gun on it, but the others could be substance for indictment as murder. They were unarmed and no threat to him. Yet he killed them anyway."

"And you chose not to include any of this in the report." Mustang said with a raised eyebrow. "Smart move."

"I knew…" Maria said, her voice growing quiet. "I knew if I did, it wouldn't mean anything. Edward Elric wouldn't spend one night in a jail cell and I…." She trailed off as she shook her head. "They're just...too…"

"Powerful." Mustang finished for her. "Powerful and necessary."

This caught Maria off guard and she blinked in surprise. 'Necessary?'

"Before I joined the force." Mustang said. "It was war in the streets; every punk was trying to take over. On every corner there was a violent murder. In every alley someone was getting whacked. You couldn't walk outside to get your damn mail without fearing for your life. It seemed like this city was trying to eat itself alive. Something had to be done. That's what made me want to become a detective." He looked directly at Maria.

"I went to the academy." He continued. "Learned everything I could about upholding the law and protecting the people. I joined the force ready to turn this whole city around all by myself. But by the time I graduated, someone already had."

"Van Hohenheim." Maria said quietly.

Mustang nodded. "It was him who saved this city from itself. He pulled it back from the clutches of chaos and gave it order. He brought the rival gang leaders to heal and stopped the bloodshed. Even though it was everyone in the city against him, he beat them all. In a sad truth, it could be called the greatest underdog story ever. He went against all the odds and brought peace to this city. I still haven't figured out how exactly he did it, how he brought everyone under him. He wrangled in the bookies, the street gangs, the pimps; hell he even got some of the petty thieves to listen to him. The number of reported muggings actually decreased after he took control; as did the murders and property damage. There hasn't been a full on gang war in almost a decade. It wasn't the Central Police Department, the Mayor, or even the fucking Salvation Army. It was Van Hohenheim. A murdering criminal mastermind with three equally guilty sons. Almost seems ironic, doesn't it?"

Maria stayed silent as Mustang continued.

"At first I tried to fight him. I tried to bring him and his whole organization down. But several wasted years, and a whole lot of death threats later, I finally realized how pointless it was. There was no bringing down Hohenheim and as much as I hate to admit it. This city needs him. Things are bad, but it's nowhere even close to how shitty this city was before Van Hohenheim. The amount of cop killings has decreased as well, I guess we can thank him for that. As long as we don't get in his way, no one dies. It's not ideal, but we can still do our jobs to a certain degree. Van Hohenheim isn't the only criminal in this city. He's just the most important."

Maria glanced over at her superior. A small part of her was angry at him. Angry that an officer of the law was saying these things; that it was okay to look the other way for the Hohenheims. But the rest of her understood; their family was royalty and Central was their kingdom. That's how things worked. Still, Maria felt curiosity build in her. Her next question was probably inevitable. "What do you think would happen if the Hohenheims fell out of power? What if you had been able to bring him down?" She asked curiously.

Mustang was silent for several moments before taking a drink. "To be honest, I've thought about that question every day for the last fifteen years. But I'm not willing to risk that possibility. That may make me a damn coward, but I believe it's better to live with the devil that you know."

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"Why the fuck is he having a meeting this late?" Ed grumbled in the back seat as he rubbed his tired eyes. He and Al had spent the last few hours viewing new designs for the Xerxes' slot machines. "I thought old people sleep more."

"You can ask him yourself." Ling said as he drove the car. He had been told 30 minutes earlier by Fu to pick up both Edward and Alphonse.

"What time is it?" Al's voice came from the passenger seat. The younger brother was sitting back in his seat gazing at the passing street lights.

Ed glanced at his golden Rolex watch. "12:27."

Al let out a sigh of relief that they would be early. He knew that Edward was not in the mood for a lecture on punctuality. Glancing in the rearview mirror, he watched his brother sitting in the backseat. The shadow's in the car cast half his face in darkness.

"If father's meeting tonight is on what we've discussed, can I count on you to pull through?" He felt stupid having to ask his brother this, but tonight could be a crucially important moment for their family. He had to be sure.

Ed's sharp eyes meet his. "Don't give me that Al." He grumbled. "I don't go back on my word."

Al nodded, giving his brother a small smile. Ed looked at him for a moment before his own lips began to twitch. Al turned his head to look at Ling.

"Any input before we arrive?" He asked their friend.

"I'm just here to be a driver. Such decisions are well beyond my paygrade." Ling said with an overly dramatic false sadness in his voice. He quickly snapped out of it as the car began to veer to the side a little. "But I trust Fu to make the right decision with you."

The rest of the ride was quiet as Ling drove them. They were on their way to a meeting at the Estate. It was away from the prying eyes of the city. Just far enough away to enjoy some peace and quiet. The three men had been driving on a road that brought them up a hill. At the end of this road was a large and very expensive looking gate. The gate was met on both sides by tall, thick stone walls about 10 feet high. On the top of these walls were spiked points looming towards the sky. The gate itself was meticulously crafted, the metal bending and curling into a spectacular arch that stood tall at the middle where the two doors of the gate met. In front of this gate stood several men dressed in black. One of them approached the stopped vehicle. Ling waved at him through the windshield. Once the guard saw who was in the car he turned and nodded to the security camera positioned on the side of the gate.

A few moments later the gate opened and Ling drove through, onto the gravel pathway that led into the Hohenheim estate.

The wide yard was perfectly maintained, not a single yellow blade of grass to be seen. The bushes outlining the stone wall were equally well kept by the best gardeners that money could buy. Appearance was everything.

But the yard's beauty was nothing compared to the large house in the middle of the estate. Actually, house wasn't the correct word. It was a palace. The largest and most expensive mansion in the Central area. The five story building was built out of white marble, expertly carved by some the best architects in the country. The roof was beautifully adorned with copper red tiles.

The lights in the house were dimmed. Outside, near the large wooden doors, were several other cars and limos. Ling drove up the gravel path that lead to the large building. Al checked his watch as Ling put the car in park. It was now 12:39.

"We're teetering on the edge of being late." He said as he unbuckled himself.

"Then let's go already." Ed said as he opened the door of the vehicle.

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Ed's boots crunched on the gravel as he stepped out of the car. The air had a slight chill to it. But nothing to complain about. He glanced over to see Al straightening the collar of his suit.

"You waited to do that now? Weren't you the one who kept prattling on about time and teetering." Ed said to his younger brother as he walked past him with his hands in his pockets.

"It'll only take a second." Al started walking as he fiddled with the collar.

"We're only as fast as our slowest player, Al." Ed looked over his shoulder with a teasing look in his eyes. Looking ahead of him, he did a once over of the other cars out front.

"Looks like we're last to arrive." Ed said nudging Ling. "But certainly not the least."

Ling rolled his eyes. "Boo." He monotoned.

"Yeah, get the jokes out of your system." Al said as they walked towards the front door. "While you can."

The large doors were expertly carved out of fine wood. The tops of the metal door handles were lion heads. The doors opened as they walked up to them. A small elderly man in a black suit and long white mustache greeted them.

"Hello Master Edward, Master Alphonse, Mr. Yao. May I take your coats?" He offered as he held the door open for them.

"Thank you Giolio." Al said as he handed the small butler his coat. Ed and Ling politely declined and kept their coats on. Giolio Comanche closed the doors behind them as they entered a foyer that was as every bit extravagant as the mansion's exterior.

"Everyone is already here, gentlemen. They are waiting for you two on the third floor." Giolio informed as the three young men headed up the stairs that curved over a doorway and met another identical and opposite staircase. Al had his hand on the gilded handrail while Ed kept his in his pockets.

They got to the top and walked down the hallway. As they made their way down the fine red carpet, Ling spoke up.

"Hey guys. I'm gonna meet up with Martel, Roa, and those guys." Ling said. "See ya later."

"See ya, Ling." Ed waved as the Xingese man broke off and headed down another hallway. The walls were wooden and adorned with works of art as well as decorative lights.

"Think he's going to chew us out?" Ed asked with a sigh.

"Technically, we're not late." Al responded.

"Yeah, but 'they're waiting for us' remember?" Ed said forming air quotes. "The old man's still going to be pissed."

"He doesn't get angry." Al said as they turned to move up another flight of stairs.

"Correction, he doesn't get angry at you." Ed said as they walked up. "It's another story with me."

"Father just wants to make sure we learn from him." Al said.

"About what?" Ed asked. "Being an emotionless stiff with enough personality to fit into a fucking teaspoon?"

"Why don't you ask him when we see him." Al deadpanned.

This silenced Ed. No matter how much he liked to complain about his father behind the man's back, he lost that rebellious streak whenever those cold eyes looked at him.

The two brothers finally reached the third floor and exited the stairs. Ed glanced down a nearby hallway at a large wooden door.

"Come on let's not keep the mighty king waiting." He muttered, causing Al to chuckle. Ed smiled slightly at the sound of his younger brother's laugh. It was nice when they weren't bickering.

"Oh yes, he may behead us at dawn for such insubordination." Al responded causing Ed to give a chuckle of his own.

"Are you two done giggling like a pair of under aged girls?" Came a very unimpressed voice from behind them.

The two men jumped and turned to see a middle aged women giving them an equally unimpressed look. She stood at about 6 feet tall, with long black hair and a long white coat.

Ed snickered while Al gave her a bashful look. "Sorry Aunt Izumi."

Aunt Isumi was an attractive woman of 47. She was their father's younger sister, as well as one of his most trusted advisers and confidants.

"Are you two idiots just going to stand there or will you move to let me in?" Izumi asked as she folded her arms. She was leaning against the wall, almost like she'd been waiting for them.

"We were just going in." Al said quickly as he opened the door and headed inside. Ed tried to follow him, but was stopped by a hand on his shoulder. He turned to see Izumi staring at him.

"It's been a little while since we've been able to talk." She said. "I'm glad you're alright after what happened last week."

Ed nodded. "Thanks." He said. "I guess I have you to thank for that."

Izumi's mouth formed a small smile before glancing at the door. "Let's not keep your father waiting for too long."

"You late too?" Ed asked with a raised eyebrow.

"No." Izumi responded swiftly. "I just had to wait for you so long that I needed to use the restroom."

"It's ok, Aunt Izumi." Ed said. "Stuff like that just means you're getting older." His laugh was cut off by a sharp whack to the back of the head. He returned Izumi's glare with a crooked smile and pushed open the door.

The room was dark. His father liked having the lights dimmed when a meeting was happening. It limited the distractions in the room. Personally, it reminded Ed of a James Bond villain. Still, he moved swiftly to his seat. Making his journey as quick and uneventful as possible. He passed two of father's chief lieutenants; Scar and Fu. The chair in which he sat in was near the head of a long wooden table. Once he was fully seated, he pulled the chair up so he could rest his hands on the wooden edge of the table. So far, his head had been slightly bowed the entire time he had been in the room. To his right, closer to the head of the table, he heard his Aunt pull out her chair and cooly seat herself. He glanced up to see Al sitting across from him. Al was looking at him as if he was nervously waiting for him to do something. Ed understood when Al's eyes darted to Ed's right.

Ed looked towards the head of the table.

The main source of the room's light came from a large fireplace. Ed had fond memories around that fireplace. His mother would always read and play with him in this room, especially around the holidays. It used to be her own private room. She'd hang up art that he or Al had drawn from when they were children, no matter how bad it was. She'd relax in here for hours either playing with her little sons, or looking through the large windows at the gardens.

But that was a long time ago.

Now, the paintings were gone. Ripped down and thrown into the trash. The thick curtains of the windows were drawn closed. No garden to be seen.

The fire was still going strong, illuminating the room in warm light. Ed couldn't see the flames from where he sat, only the light that they gave off. And that itself, was partly obstructed by his father.

Van Hohenheim sat tall and strong at the head of his table. His head cocked slightly, so that he could stare at his second eldest son.

Ed looked back at father confused before he quickly leaned off the table. His hands moved from the table's edge to his lap and he straightened his back, copying Al's posture.

Once Ed had done this, his father looked away from him. Hohenheim's eyes settled back on Greed, who had been standing and apparently about to start talking when Ed had made his entrance. Even at the age of 51, Greed barely looked over 35. Dressed in his usual black suit and somehow still wearing those damn small sunglasses. Once Greed saw that he had Hohenheim's attention he started to speak.

"If you don't mind Van." He said. "I'd like to cut right to the chase."

Hohenheim gave him a nod to continue.

"I have seen." Greed said. "Like everyone else in this room has seen; a rising phenomenon in this city." Greed tossed a bag onto the table. It was a plastic sandwich bag, filled with a white powder. Ed briefly wondered whether it was heroin or cocaine.

"Drugs." Greed said. "That right there is a about two pounds of methane."

'Turns out it was surprise option C.' Ed thought.

Greed continued to talk. "You can find packages such as this on numerous streets throughout this city. They come in varying degrees of quality. I hear this batch it pretty good. Although Meth is usually crystallized, this stuff isn't half bad. I guess I happened to be lucky with the dealer I decided to purchase this from. The same can't be said for Dwight Scott." Even though he couldn't see the man's eyes, Ed was sure that Greed's were shifting around the room.

"Dwight Scott:" Greed continued. "Was a football star at Central University. He was, until he bought a bag such as this from a dealer on the corner of Fleet Street. His roommate found him dead from an overdose." Greed picked up the bag of meth and placed it in the pocket of his suit. "I know none of you give a shit about Dwight Scott. I couldn't give less of a shit about Dwight Scott. But there are those in this city who do give a shit about Dwight Fucking Scott."

"And your point is?" Izumi asked, leaning her face on her hand.

Greed glared at her for a moment before continuing. "I'm saying that we should give somewhat of a shit about Dwight Scott." He leaned forward, resting his hands on the table. "Drugs are in this city and there's nothing we-" His glasses flicked briefly to Hohenheim. "-can do about it. What we can do is grab it by the balls." Greed held his fist up like he was grasping something, his mouth a wide smirk. Ed grimaced as the motion made him think about what weird shit Greed did in his spare time. "We would bring the products in. We'd give it to the dealers of our choice. We'd regulate who the dealers would sell the merchandise to. We'd control this entire operation from when it comes in to when and where it goes out. All of these small time dealers that are operating in alleys are getting their shipments from outside of Central. We can easily negotiate with their sources. Have our own wonderful monopoly."

Greed pushed off and began to stroll around the table. "But let's say we act like fucking dumbasses and we don't do jack shit. Let's say we let whichever shithead with half a brain, sell all the damn drugs they want. More kids like Dwight fucking Scott keel over and people start raising a shitstorm about it. Lots of people with high emotions is never a good thing. Another detrimental circumstances is that these lone dealers give their merchandise to idiots who then go shoot up a...let's say a store." Greed paused to let that hang over the room. Ed could feel Greed's eyes on him. A prickling feeling on the back of neck told him that his father was looking at him as well. Ed squared his shoulders and returned Greed's gaze.

"Chaos is even worse than high emotions." Greed shrugged his shoulders like this was a simple fact. "Chaos breeds panic which inevitably leads to violence. Next thing we know, the special interests and the parent groups are breathing down old man Grumman's neck begging him to do something. Maybe the old man finally grows some balls and actually does something. Nobody wins in this situation, especially not us."

Greed had a tendency to always look at the big picture. Maybe it was the lawyer part of him that did that.

"If we control all levels of manufacturing, we get to control the quality." Greed said. "Only pristine, quality merchandise comes in. And even then, the merchandise only goes to whoever we want it to. So no dipshits giving it in excess to star football players. I know some of you would rather hold on to land owning or game fixing; but times have changed. The drug trade is the future, people." Greed was now standing on the opposite side of the table from Hohenheim. "Are we going to be in that future?"

Ed glanced at his father. Hohenheim's face was unreadable as it always was. Everyone else at the table was watching for a reaction. Hohenheim leaned back in his chair.

"Thoughts?" His voice came out as a deep whisper.

Ed's eyes moved to the others at the table as they responded. He knew that his father had already made a decision. But as the head of the family, he always preferred hearing every point of view or opinion. The first to speak was Fu.

"I agree." He said simply.

Katsunosuke Fu was the second longest lasting non family underling for Hohenheim. The longest being Greed. Standing at only 5'7 and nearing 60 years of age, Fu did not have the look of the swift killing machine that he truly was. The only tell were his eyes, which always held a look of scrutiny and suspicion. Fu was one of the several men instrumental in keeping the small bosses in line. He had started off as a simple enforcer and hitman for Ed's father. Over the years he rose among the ranks, becoming one of Van's most trusted and respected associates. The old Xingese man was also a role model for Ling, who just happened to be dating Fu's granddaughter Lan Fan.

Ed frankly wasn't very surprised by the old man's declaration. Fu had always been rather pragmatic albeit somewhat old fashioned.

Ed's gaze moved from Fu, across the table, to the man who was sitting next to him on the left. Despite knowing this man his entire life, Ed still had no goddamn idea what Scar's real name was. The giant enforcer had always gone by the simple nickname Scar. When he was little, Ed had asked his father why Scar had a name like that. His father had given a small smile and said it was the name that he had chosen. Since then, Ed had called him Scar without question.

Watching his stoic face made Ed think about how little Scar had actually changed. The towering red eyed man had held a presence during his early years as a loyal bodyguard. He was the one who had driven him and Al to school, and the one to pick them up. At the time, Ed had enjoyed having such a large man with a cool scar doing things for him. When he was 9, Van sat Al and himself down and told them the reason for Scar's presence.

Ed was pushed out of his thoughts by Scar's answer.

"I agree."

The imaginary spotlight moved over to Al who was sitting next to Fu. Ed already knew what's Al's answer would be so he looked to the right at his aunt. Izumi was sitting back in her chair cooly. Her elbow was resting on the arm of the chair with her chin on her hand. The spotlight moved to Ed, who already had an answer.

"Yeah, I agree."

Ed looked over at Al and gave him a wink. It was Izumi's turn next. She didn't answer right away and looked into the eyes of her older brother. The two of them had always had this weird thing of knowing exactly what the other was thinking. Ed could see a mental conversation going through their locking of eyes.

"I don't like it." She said, her gaze now going to Greed. "Drugs are an ugly business. Even us having control won't make it good. But you are right, this is what's best for the family, and perhaps the city." She looked back at Hohenheim.

"I agree."

Izumi Curtis always spoke her mind. Whether it was to Greed, himself, Al, Envy, or even Hohenheim. Being Van's younger sister meant she held one of the most powerful positions in the family. Even though she had been adopted, Hohenheim treated her as if she was his blood sister. She was mostly in charge of handling the soldiers, or enforcers, of the organization. If someone wanted to come work for the family, they'd have to meet her very limited approval.

You see, most crime families often had captains, or capos for short. Each captain heads a crew of "soldiers"; basically they kept the muscle in line. Izumi essentially was one who kept the capos in line. Her time in the military caused her to often act like a drill sergeant. Despite being a middle aged woman, Izumi was arguably the most capable killer in the room. She had personally trained Ed, Alphonse, and Envy on how to shoot a wide variety of different guns and to defend themselves at an early age. Needless to say that training has proven to be very useful lately.

Everyone had said their piece, now it was Hohenheim's decision. His cold, golden eyes stared at Greed for several moments.

"I want a list of suppliers who can bring the substances in." Hohenheim said to Greed then looked at Fu and Scar. "You two, find suitable men to serve as local dealers. Once that can follow orders" Al was next. "Call Mayor Grumman's office and schedule a meeting for later this week." Izumi. "We'll discuss the specifics of this arrangement later." He looked at the group as a whole. "We're done."

Ed had to admit one thing about his Dad, he did not mince words.

Everyone stood out of their seats and swiftly moved to leave the room. Ed was a bit perturbed that he was the only one in the group who hadn't been given any kind of assignment. With a sigh he pushed his chair from the table and stood up. Sliding his hands into his pockets; Ed turned to leave the room.

"Not you."

Ed spun around and saw Hohenheim looking at him. He gave Al a quick glance as his brother left the room before walking back to the table. He came to a stop next to his seat, but remained standing.

"You called?" Ed drawled.

"I couldn't help but see the look of disappointment on your face as you prepared to leave." Hohenheim said. "Were you expecting a participation trophy?"

Ed grounded his jaw a little. He should have known his father would see that. Right now he felt rather like like a school kid standing in the principal's office. Somehow Van always had the ability to make Ed uncomfortable. Although his father's face held no emotion, his dark golden eyes were mocking him.

"Kind of." Ed admitted bitterly as he folded his arms.

Hohenheim shook his head and stood up; his tall frame casting shadows across the table. Ed had to look upwards in order to maintain eye contact.

"Grow up, Edward." He said. "You're not a child anymore. If I have decided not to bestow you with an assignment, then there is a reason for it."

"Well then." Ed said not breaking eye contact with his father. "What is your reasoning? Should I have arrived two minutes earlier? Sat straighter in my chair? Worn a fucking suit like Al?" Instead of a school boy in the principal's office, he felt like a five year old child being scolded by his father.

His father glare was small yet still managed to unnerve him. After a few moments Hohenheim gave a tired sigh. His golden eyes and slightly graying hair glowed in the dim light. His brown suit was darker.

"As it happens, I do have an assignment for you. More important than the others." Hohenheim said.

Ed blinked in surprise. "You do?"

"When Greed has chosen suitable candidates to bring in the merchandise I want you to be the one to meet with them and negotiate the arraignment."

"Me?" Ed asked, genuinely surprised. "Why me? Isn't diplomatic shit something you usually do."

"I won't be here forever." Hohenheim said, his jaw set tightly as he continued to glare at his son. "Then it'll be your turn to take over as head of the family."

A silence followed this. Ed's response died in his throat. He looked away from his father and at the ground. He cleared his throat and brought his eyes back up to meet his father's gaze. He couldn't help but notice the deep lines on his father's face. How his once brilliant golden hair was starting to turn grey in a few spots.

"You will meet with whoever these people are" Hohenheim continued. "You will tell them our terms and you will show them who we are."

"Why me?" Ed asked, his voice calm. "Al's the better talker. If you asked, he'd probably prepare a fucking speech in less than an hour."

His father's mouth formed the shadow of a smirk. "In the past, you've demonstrated your ability to utilize words in an...authoritative manner."

Ed snorted. "By authoritative, I can only assume you mean loudmouth and in your face?"

"It does get the point across." Hohenheim commented, then shook his head. "I chose you because I believe you will make the strong choices that are in the family's best interest."

Ed was quiet for a moment. Eventually, he looked up at his father.

"Thank you, father." He said uncharacteristically quiet. "I won't let you down."

Hohenheim walked around the table and began heading towards the door. He stopped when he reached Ed. "You're my son Edward. I trust you." Though his voice held little emotion; this was the closest you'd get to affectionate.

Ed nodded and couldn't help the smile that came to his face. Damn, 26 years old and he was still seeking his father's approval. Talk about daddy issues.

"Am I dismissed?" He asked.

Hohenheim nodded.

Ed turned to leave. He felt a small excitement glowing inside him. His father had never given him this much responsibility before. It was a time to maintain the family's status in this city and to prove-

"You'll take Edgar with you."

This stopped Ed in his tracks.

"What?" He spun around.

"You heard me." Hohenheim said.

"Why?" Ed asked.

"In the possibility that the chosen associates may require a particular method of persuasion." His father answered.

"And I can't do that myself?"

"You can't do it as well as him." Hohenheim left the room, leaving Ed alone.

Ed sighed. "Alright."

 **OoO**

* * *

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"This is an easy deal, just leave the vending machines alone." An uninterested voice drawled.

"This is bullshit, man!" An angry balding man in a wife beater shouted. "I've got no business then."

"True, very true...but I don't care."

"Fuck you, you weird green haired freak!"

 _Thud_

The bald man was knocked on his back, blood flowing from his nose. Above him the aforementioned green haired freak twirled a baseball bat in his hand.

"Well I guess I'm going to have to tell my dad you won't cease your business interactions." The man smirked deviously. The man on the ground tried to stand up, but the green haired man was already swinging the bat.

 _Thud!_

 _Crack!_

 _Crunch!_

 _Splat!_

 _Snap!_

"...shit...my fucking bat broke…god dammit."

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Next chapter you'll officially meet Envy/Edgar…and maybe someone else. Please leave your thoughts.**

 **Just to be clear, Dwight Scott is not based on any real person.**


	4. Chapter 4

**Enjoy!**

 **OoO**

* * *

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"He's not picking up his damn phone." Ed groaned into his own phone as he drove. "I don't know where the fuck he is!"

"If you ask me." Al's voice came from the phone. "Look in one of Tucker's places, or in the nearest sewer."

"Seriously Al." Ed grumbled. "I just want to know where Envy is."

"Yeah, like he'd tell me." Al scoffed. "Ask Roa and Dolcetto. He likes to have those guys help him commit his atrocities."

Ed sighed at Al's animosity towards their half brother. "I did." He said. "They told me that last night he was dealing with some little shit who was messing with our vending machines on 31st street. After that nothing."

There was a moment's pause before Al talked. "Think about it Ed. Say this dealing didn't go well. Where would Envy take the poor guy's body?"

Ed immediately stopped the car. Turning the wheel, he made a complete u-turn in the middle of the street, ignoring some angry honks from the other drivers.

"MacDougal's." Ed said aloud to himself. "Thanks Al."

"I gotta hang up now." Al said into the phone. "I'm meeting with that uh…Melvin Voyager guy."

"See ya." Ed hung up his phone and kept on driving.

Isaac MacDougal, also known as the Iceman, was a long time associate of the family. An underground serial killer and hitman. He was the man to send for when you really wanted someone dead. Completely apathetic to all those around him; he killed without remorse or any feeling at all for that matter.

So naturally him and Envy were good friends.

Isaac maintained one the family's warehouses in the industrial section of the city. There he offered a variety of services concerning dead bodies. In case, for whatever reason, someone needed a body to stay around for a while. MacDougal's Ice Shop, as it was called, had freezers. About a dozen freezers in all, they could ice a body whole and preserve it for as long as needed. Along with the freezers there were the vats of lye. These large plastic tubs were heated to about 300 degrees and their purpose was to dissolve bodies. Lye heated to 300 degrees could dissolve a human body in about three hours.

Needless to say, the tubs were used substantially more than the freezers.

It took Ed nineteen minutes to drive to MacDougal's Ice Shop. It was located near the outskirts of Central. A place that many people had learned not to go near; MacDougal didn't like trespassers. He parked his car on the broken pavement outside and looked the dark building up and down through the front window. All of the windows on the building were blacked out and the state of the walls made the building look like it was in decay. However, the inside was well maintained and clean. Oddly enough, MacDougal was a bit of a clean freak.

Stepping out of the car, Ed closed the door with a sigh. He really hated it when he had to come to this place.

The front door was always locked so Ed did what everybody always had to do when they come here and stop right in front of it. Next to the door was a buzzer which Ed pressed. After waiting a few minutes he heard the sounds of a camera as it moved above him. He glanced up to see a security camera pointed directly at him. He gave it a quick wave before a loud click told him that the door had been opened. Ed strained a little to open the heavy door, but when it was opened, he entered the building.

The hallway was lit by fluorescent lights. They held an eerie silence to them as Ed's footsteps echoed loudly through the building. The walls were a dull, lifeless white. The initial hallway lead to a main room that held several different doors. One lead to the freezers, the other to the tubs.

"Long time no see, pipsqueak."

Ed growled as he turned to glare at the source of the voice. In his younger years, Ed had been rather small for his age. Only a few people had the guts to taunt him about that. This guy just didn't care.

MacDougal smirked at him as he walked out of a door that was right next to the entrance. It looked like it led to a basement. Ed tried not to look at the bloodstains on the man's plastic gloves and smock. He begrudgingly held back a retort to the pipsqueak comment. He wasn't here to pick a fight with Isaac MacDougal.

"Is my brother here?" He gritted out.

"Yeah." MacDougal took out a cloth to wipe the bits of blood off of his face. "He's using the tubs."

Suddenly a muffled scream sounded from the door that MacDougal had just come through.

"Oh shit, is that guy still alive?" MacDougal chuckled as he looked behind him. "Archer certainly knows how to pick them."

Ed just looked at the man in front him, unsure of how exactly to react to that. Wordlessly, he turned away and moved towards the door that lead to the tub room. Pushing the door open, he moved into the hallway. On the wall were oxygen masks that you had to wear once you moved into the tub room. It was very bad to breathe in lye fumes. After Ed put the mask on, he went into the room.

It was a very large room. A catwalk outlined the walls, allowing people to walk around the many tubs. The tubs themselves were large containers made of plastic. Slides that went up to the catwalk allowed whoever came here to slide bodies down the slide into the liquid. After that, all you'd need would be to press a button to start the heating process.

Ed's eyes roamed from one end of the room to the other looking for his brother. He finally saw him at a tub towards the other side of the large room. With a sigh, Ed started making his way around the catwalk. After about a minute of walking he got a close look at what Envy was doing. His eyes widened and his lunch almost came back up.

"Holy shit!" He turned around and had to lean against the wall.

"Hey Edo." He heard Envy chuckle. "It's been a while; where've you been?"

"Why the fuck doesn't that guy have a head?" Ed asked in a gasp. He still couldn't look at it. Even to a guy like him that was gross as shit.

"I knocked it off." Came Envy's blunt reply.

"With what? A battleaxe?" Ed turned around to ask and instantly regretted it. The body ended at the neck, which had broken bones and torn muscles jutting out of the stump. He could see the ends of veins lying on the floor with some last small drops of blood seeping out of them. The man's shoulders were covered in scattered pieces of brains.

"A bat." Envy said nonchalantly.

"Why?"

"He was being difficult; I lost my patience." Envy shrugged. With that Envy grabbed the headless corpse and lifted it. Despite his rather lanky physique, he lifted the larger body with ease. He slid the body into the opening of the slide and pushed it down. Envy closed the opening and turned back to Ed. With the valve closed they could now take their masks off.

"How you doing, little brother?"

"You're a psychopath." Ed grumbled. "You know that?"

"Oh Ed, that's mean. You've done some pretty fucked up shit yourself." Envy said as he quickly opened the valve to toss in one last piece of brain down the chute. Ed gagged slightly.

"Your shit is way out there." He shook his head.

"Little Al always finds time to remind me of that." Ed couldn't see it, but he could tell his brother was smirking.

Envy didn't have the same mother as himself or Al. On top of that, Envy wasn't his real name. His real name was Edgar Hohenheim. His mother's name had been Dante Powell. She'd been their father's girlfriend when Van Hohenheim had first arrived in the city. Times had been a lot harder back then. For a long time he was poor and it was rough for the both of them. Not long afterwards, she became a prostitute and eventually left Van for higher prospects, both unaware that she was pregnant with his child. She died when Edgar was 6, around the same time that Edward was born. Before Dante died, she told Edgar who his father was. After that, Envy was sent to an orphanage where he developed into a rather violent child. He'd pick fights with any kid who was bigger than him and he always won. He eventually ran away from the orphanage at age 9 and lived on the street for several years. He stole and robbed people just to get by.

One day he tried to rob a man only to discover that it was his father. Hohenheim had been going about his day when he caught a homeless thirteen year old boy trying to pick his pocket. Instead of punishing the youth, Hohenheim found the situation rather amusing and asked Edgar for his name. From this, Hohenheim learned the boy's mother's name. It didn't take long for Hohenheim to figure out who the father was. After some careful talks with Izumi and Trisha, Hohenheim took in his eldest son and raised him along with his other children.

Ed remembered how his 7 year old self had found it cool to have an older brother, especially one who had lived in the streets and knew how to fight. He still found it cool. Al had been more cautious with accepting their new sibling and it was debatable if he ever had. For his part, Envy came to care for his two little brothers, but had hidden it under tormenting pranks. Especially when it came to Al. Their mother, Tricia, had accepted him, Izumi even more so. She had tried to harness his raw aggression into a capable fighter. As Envy grew up, so did his reputation on the streets. The name 'Envy' came from an insult that mocked his status as an illegitimate child in comparison to Ed and Al. Edgar had liked how it sounded and took it as his persona. Now everyone including some of his family referred to him by that name.

Ed looked his brother up and down. There really was little resemblance between the two of them. Although he had his father's jaw and hair, Envy's eyes were violet just like his mother's had been. His hair was a brighter gold than Ed's but it was impossible to tell because he dyed it completely green. He was also taller than him.

Despite that, Ed had to admit the two of them were pretty similar. Both of them kept their hair long and both of them preferred informal clothing. What was differed about Envy's wardrobe was that it much more 'punkish' than Ed's. While Ed enjoyed a good leather jacket or blazer, Envy dressed himself in black leather coats, pants, and fingerless gloves. He was wearing that exact outfit right now, his long hair held back slightly by a headband. Under the long leather coat he was wearing a black shirt with a skull on it.

Envy never really cared for subtly.

Ed folded his arms. "Dad has a job for us."

"I figured this wasn't a social visit." Envy asked with a mock pout before brightening up. "We should really get fucked up together again."

Ed almost cracked a smile, but kept his face professional. "You hear about the meeting we had last night?" He asked. If he didn't stay on track he'd be here all day.

"Yeah, the one that I was too busy to attend." Envy said as he pulled a knife out of his leather coat and began to twirl it around with his fingers.

"I recall that Dad told you to stop coming after you stabbed Greed with a fountain pen." Ed responded dryly.

Envy laughed, tossing the knife up above his head and catching it. "Come on. Don't tell me you've never wanted to stab that gargoyle with something."

Ed smirked. "The thought has crossed my mind once or twice. Anyway we're moving in on the drug trade."

Envy whistled. "About time the old man got off his ass." He had gone to leaning against the railing. It was no secret to Ed that apart from excessive drinking, screwing a particularly crazy woman, and causing general mayhem; Envy was also an avid drug user.

"Greed's looking for someone to bring the merchandise into the city for us. And Dad wants the two of us to meet with him." Ed informed him.

This visibly confused Envy as he turned his head to Ed with a questioning look. "Why us? The drug trade is worth fucking millions, you'd think he would handle it himself."

"I think because...he wants us to get ready for eventual leadership." Ed said with a sigh. "In his own words he said 'I won't be here forever'."

"Oh." Envy said, his face losing its usual cockiness. This topic was one the brothers usually preferred to avoid. "Well that explains why you're being sent, but why me? I've never been a very diplomatic fucker."

"The guy, whoever he'll be, will probably know you're reputation and be intimidated or something like that." Ed said. "No offense."

"None taken." Envy shrugged.

"And having you there would show him that we're serious about our terms." Ed explained. "Plus, Dad might want you to become more responsible. I won't be able to run this family by myself."

"Well that sounds like a shitload of fun." Envy said, clapping his hands loudly as he stepped away from the railing. "When is this little powwow happening?"

Ed felt the familiar annoyance of always having to look up slightly to talk to any member of his family.'Why do I have to be the short one.' He grumbled in his mind before talking. "I don't know." He shrugged.

"What?"

"Greed's not done with his list." Ed sighed.

Envy cocked an eyebrow. "Then why the fuck are you here? Couldn't you just leave me a message or something? Or did you just want to see me that badly?"

"Remember that time when you and I were supposed to go to shake down some of Yoki's' men?" Ed asked in a deadpan. "I left you a message then and when the time came you were too busy at the Ouroboros fucking Solaris. I had to completely wing it."

"Oh yeah. My bad." Envy said with a smile; as if he was reflecting on a pleasant memory. "God, I remember that night. She was fan-fucking-tastic by the way. I mean, I thought that I could be nasty but she-"

"Anyways, I'll text you when we do have a name." Ed cut him off with a sigh. "Just keep an eye out for it."

Envy kept his cocky grin. "I try to. See you around Edo."

With that, Ed turned and started to walk away. It was time to get out of this place. As he walked towards the door he saw MacDougal come out of it pulling a cart behind him. Ed didn't have to look to see that there were bodies on the cart. He tried to walk past MacDougal without glancing at it, but he caught a glimpse.

Ed stopped walking.

"Wait." His hand shot out and grabbed the side of the cart, stopping it. He heard MacDougal give a huff of annoyance, but Ed ignored him. He instead focused on the brunette hair and the lifeless brown eyes. His eyes raked up and down her petite body and stopped at the dark bruises around her throat. He knew her.

Penny.

The waitress from the Devil's Nest who had 'delivered' the 'message' from Greed. She was dead. Her mouth was open in a permanent look of shock; her eyes bulging and bloodshot. Her skin, which had flushed with heat as she'd moved under him, was now pale and cold.

Ed's eyes moved up to MacDougal.

"Did you kill her?" He asked in a curious voice.

"No." MacDougal said with a bored voice. "This is a delivery."

"From who?" Ed asked.

"That lawyer guy, Gregory or Greed. Whatever his name is." MacDougal said. "Step aside, kid, I've got work to do." After he spoke, he started dragging the cart away, leaving Ed standing there.

'Greed had her killed?' He thought as he glanced back at the cart being pulled away. 'Why?'

He'd barely known her; she'd just been a warm body for an evening. But she seemed nice and a loyal employe of Greed's. So why would he have her killed?

'He had to have had a reason.' Ed decided as he started to walk out of the large room. 'She must have done something to deserve this. Greed's a shithead, but he never does anything without a reason. If he decided to have her killed, then there is definitely a reason.'

Ed thought this as he walked down the hallway that lead to the building's exit. As long as there was a suitable reason, then he'd abide. That's what separated him from Envy who could kill at the slightest provocation. Death had to be earned and deserved. Whatever Penny had done, she deserved to be strangled to death and thrown into a pit of lye. Destroying all trace that she had ever existed.

Ed shook his head as he pushed the door open and started walking to his car.

Sometimes he wondered if it was just him, or everyone around him who was full of shit.

 **OoO**

 **OoO**

"They don't pay me enough to deal with this shit."

Joe, a middle aged man, grumbled as he walked down the aisles of recent deliveries. This was his third time doing so at the behest of the woman standing at the counter.

"I already told her three fucking times, we don't have any goddamn ½ lb copper wires." He grumbled some more. "But no! 'My shop has already payed so go back and check again'. It's not like there are other customers that I have to waste my time on."

He skimmed through the shelves at boxes of titanium plates, aluminum pistons, and cast iron screws. Once again, no damn ½ lb copper wires wires. If they were in this auto shop they'd be on very the shelf he was currently looking at. Joe couldn't help but smirk at this. He was looking forward to telling that irritating bitch out front that she was wrong and to get the hell out of his store. Triumphantly, he turned to tell the woman off when he kicked something on the floor. He looked down.

"Shit."

On the ground was the very box of ½ lb copper wires he was looking for. They had been there the whole time.

'The dumbass receiver kid must have left it on the floor again.' Joe groaned in his head. He didn't know what annoyed him the most: the fact that he hadn't seen the box that was right in front of him; the kid for putting it there; or that the woman had been right. He quickly decided it was the third as he brought it out to the checkout counter.

"Well I guess third time's a charm." He grumbled. "Here's your order, Ms. Rockwell."

The young blond woman who had been facing away from the counter, arms crossed, turned around.

"It's Rock _bell_." She corrected him. The slight irritation on her face morphed into a satisfied smile when she saw the box.

"Whatever." He muttered as he placed it down on the surface. This might be the first time in his entire life that he was irritated from giving a customer what they needed.

"Thank you." She said before gripping the edges of the heavy box. With a small grunt, the young woman took a step back as she hauled it off.

"Need help with that?" He drawled, only sounding half interested. Though, it was a pretty heavy box

"Oh no, I've got it." She adjusted the box into a better grip; ignoring his attitude. "Have a good day. Thanks for being so patient." Her blond hair wiped in the air as she turned around to carry the box out of the store.

Joe just stared after her until she left the building and gave a sigh of relief. That headache was finally over. His moment of peace did not last long however, as another young woman, this time with a bawling baby, came up asking about car headlights.

In the street outside, Winry Rockbell let out a tired sigh.

That simple errand had taken a lot longer than she'd wanted it to. On top of that, she was already behind on Mr. Jefferson's order and was probably going to have to stay late with no overtime, again. Thank god that Paninya had let Winry borrow her car.

With the box of wires held tightly in her arms, she walked across the street towards her friend's car. It was a bit of a struggle, but Winry was eventually able to get the key out of her pocket and unlocked the vehicle. After placing the box in the passenger's seat she got in and started the car up.

Looking over her shoulder as she backed up, Winry pulled out into the street and took of driving. It was only a fifteen minute drive from her work, Dominic LeCoulte's Mechanical Shop. Due to traffic, it took an extra five minutes.

The bell on the shop's front door jingled as she pushed it open, carrying the box with her.

"Well you certainly took your time."

Winry almost rolled her eyes at the typical greeting from her boss. "The stupid clerk couldn't find the purchase, Mr. Dominic." She said. "It wasn't my fault."

"Just place it down and get back to your workbench." The gruff man barked. "That order needs to be finished today."

"I know, Mr. Dominic." Winry sighed as she took off her black wool coat, revealing her mechanic jumpsuit underneath. She hung the jacket up, giving a side glance to Dominic as he stood by the counter, cleaning cylinders with a cloth. His face bore its trademark scowl that actually went very well with his gray hair. Shaking her head, Winry walked into the backrooms. Upon entering she immediately went into work mode; wrapping a green bandana behind her head and pulling her thick gloves on. Before heading to her desk, she stopped to check in the auto room. There were several cars propped up on lifts and she could see sparks coming from under a Toyota Corolla. There were a pair of familiar metal legs sticking out from under it as well.

"Hey Paninya." She called out.

The sparks stopped and the legs propelled the creeper that they were lying on out from under the car.

"Hey Win." Her friend said back to her. "Back so soon?" She raised an eyebrow.

Winry snorted. "I wish." She tossed the keys to Paninya. "Thanks for the car."

Paninya caught them with ease. "Anytime." She started to move back under the car, but stopped. "By the way, Dominic's in one of those moods today."

"I noticed." Winry returned as she put her hands in her pockets. "We should probably stop talking before he docks our pay."

"He knows if he does that I'll quit." Paninya laughed as she slid back under the car. "So, how you been Winry?"

Winry was glad Paninya was under the car or else she would have seen the anxiety on the mechanic's face. "Uh…you know, it's just same old, same old." She mumbled. "Nothing to really complain about." That was a total lie.

The sounds of Paninya's power tools stopped. "You sure?"

Winry sighed as she realized what her friend was getting at. "Pan, it's been a few weeks."

"I'm just checking in." Paninya peeked her head out from under the car. "If you ever want to, you know, talk. I'm here."

"Thanks, but I'm fine." Winry said. "It's kind of better at this point if I just don't think about it."

There were a few moments of slightly awkward silence until Paninya suddenly spoke. "So, you still single?"

"And proud." Winry chuckled, happy with the change of subject. Before it could change again, she turned around to walk back to her work desk.

Her pace only increased when she was in eyesight of Dominic. Once she was back at her desk Winry put on her rather large safety goggles and examined the work of art in front of her. The metal mechanism in front of her was crafted into the shape of an arm. Dominic's was one of the few shops in the city to did both auto mechanics and automail.

Automail were automotive prostheses, or mechanical body parts. It had been a scientific breakthrough about 2 decades ago when the military was working on a project to help injured soldiers get back into the field. After a few years of development for combat use, they became available to the public. On their most basic level, they were used as replacements for bones or missing tissue. However their most common use was for replacing whole limbs. An automail arm or leg could be meticulously crafted by a skilled mechanic to replace limbs that had been lost. Each limb was different because it had to correspond with the person it was being attached to. For the longest time there was a rumor that one half of a man's entire body had been replaced by automail. Everything from the face to organs were supposedly replaced by mechanical parts. Winry knew however that this was completely implausible. Any automail surgery of that scale would surely kill someone.

Crafting automail was a very time consuming job. Winry was almost done with putting this arm together, yet she still had hours of work to get done.

'Now that I have the ½ pounders, I can connect the the digit processors to the joint pump.' Winry thought proudly to herself as she carefully rearranged the other wires to make room for her recent purchase. The sensory readers needed to share a single current so that the signals could reach all of them simultaneously. Once this was connected to the nervous system, the limb should move and function just like a the original flesh one. Only a few more hours of securing all of the wires and screwing in the protective plating and she would be done.

She was about to continue with her work when she felt a tapping on her shoulder. Pulling her goggles off her head, Winry turned around to see Dominic standing there.

"Look." He said, to her surprise, kind of awkwardly. "You know I can't pay you for all the overtime you've been doing. But...I, uh, just wanted you to have this just in case you need it for anything."

With that, he handed her a small plastic sandwich bag. In it was a rather large roll of dollar bills. Winry hesitantly took it and looked up at her boss with a nod of understanding. He knew about her...problem, more so then Paninya did. She was grateful for his generosity, yet the charity left a bitter taste in her mouth.

"Thank you, Mr. Dominic." She said quietly.

Dominic nodded and stood there with a deep frown for a several moments. He looked as if he wanted to say more, yet decided against it and walked away. Winry watched him leave before opening the bag and looking over the money. She let out a sigh when she was counting it.

'Dammit! It's still not enough.' She thought mournfully.

Winry knew she shouldn't be ungrateful, anything she could get was better than nothing. Maybe this, plus her paychecks at the end of the week, would be enough to pay them.

'But then next week it'll be more, then even more the next week, then the next one and the next one.' The plastic bag crinkled as Winry's hands clenched around it. She could feel anger, frustration, and most of all, panic borrowing their way into the pit of her stomach. 'It just never stops.'

Several hours later, it was 12:35 a.m. and Dominic's shop had long since closed. Winry quickly walked down the dark street towards her apartment. She was only supposed to work until 10:00, but as usual, she was swamped with work. Winry let out a tired sigh as she pulled her black jacket closer around her tired body. Hopefully she could at least get four hours of sleep before she'd have to wake up at 6:00 a.m. for her second job.

It was around 12:45 when Winry began to close in on her home street. As she got closer her pace became much slower. Winry cautiously glanced around for anyone else who could be on the street. Not seeing anyone, she moved into a quiet jog. Up ahead she saw the street splitting off into another. All she'd need to do was turn that corner and she'd be there.

Winry rounded the corner and froze. Ahead of her she could see a street lamp further down the sidewalk. A large group of dark silhouettes were under the light. There were about ten of them.

"Shit!" She muttered, coming to a complete stop.

From this distance she could see that they all appeared to be men and were all rather large. Winry's entire body tensed and sweat formed on her brow. It was _them_.

"Fuck me." Winry cursed under her breath again as she pressed herself against the nearest wall. The volume of her breathing increased as she waited to see if they had spotted her. Winry stood there for about a minute before she gave a sigh of relief; they hadn't seen her.

'It's bad enough having to deal with them during the day, but at night…' Winry trailed off as she glanced at the group of men. They were give or take about 30-40 meters away from her. From her position she could faintly hear them talking amongst themselves.

'I wonder what this little club meeting of theirs is about? Nothing good I imagine. They're probably adding another thousand!' Winry pursed her lips before scowling.

They were between her and the front door of her apartment building. Thinking rapidly; Winry quickly took a left turn and headed down a nearby alley. So far they hadn't seen her, yet. Moving around in the back alleys of her street, Winry walked as quietly as she could. There was one long alley that ran parallel to the street. The only problem was that there were several chain linked fences between her and the fire escape at the back of her apartment building.

'I'm going to have to go over them...again' Winry sighed inwardly. Luckily her mechanic jumpsuit was pretty tight so it wouldn't get caught on anything. Glancing around the alley, Winry saw an empty wooden box propped up against a brick wall. As quietly as possible, Winry grabbed the edges and started tugging it towards the fence.

'Jesus Christ this thing is heavy.' She cursed as the bottom scraped loudly against the concrete. Despite her rather small figure Winry was stronger than she looked. Years of handling heavy equipment and metal parts had given her a slightly muscular frame. ''I guess all those extra hours weren't a complete waste of time.' Winry chuckled as she finally reached the fence.

Standing on the box, Winry used it as a stepping stool to climb over the first fence. Once she got to the top, she swung her right leg over and carefully moved the rest of her body over as well. Jumping off the the fence, she hit the ground rather roughly on her hands and knees. Winry gritted her teeth as pain shot through her legs and arms at the impact, but they faded quickly. Looking up, she saw that she had two more fences to go. Pushing herself to her feet, Winry brushed the dirt and filth off her pants.

"All in a day's work." She mumbled.

Jogging to the other fence, Winry started to climb that one as well. This fence was noisier than the previous one. Winry froze when she heard voices from nearby. Directly to her right was another alley that lead back out to the street. Winry could see figures walking across the opening at the end on the sidewalk. It was definitely some of _them_.

Winry didn't move a muscle. She was currently out in the open and if one of them just happened to glance to their left, they'd see her. If they saw her out at this hour and _alone_. There was no telling what they would do to her.

The seconds dragged on as the silhouettes slowly moved across the few feet of space between the buildings. Winry let out a sigh of relief when they finally moved out of view. She resumed climbing, this time more quickly. Winry landed better on her feet this time and got to the last fence. Her limbs were aching from the exertion of the day, but she was almost there. This fence had a hole in the bottom, allowing her to crawl through without having to climb over. The fence rattled louder than she would have liked, but it didn't seem to attract any attention. She did however, catch her hand on a sharpened piece of the chain link.

"Shit!" Winry gave a small yelp as the metal sliced through her skin.

Winry kept going and stood up into the alley directly behind her building. Looking down at her hand, she saw that it was only a small cut. It was bleeding a little, but a quick fix up should make it ok. Wanting nothing more than to throw herself down on a bed and fall asleep, Winry dragged one of her neighbor's trash cans under the end of the fire escape. Hoping that she wouldn't fall on her ass, Winry carefully climbed on top of the wobbling can. Glancing up, she looked at the bottom bar of the fire escape. It was well within range of grabbing as always. She'd make this jump just like she had to do many times in the last week. Grabbing onto the bottom rung, Winry grunted as she tried to hoist herself up.

After some initial struggling, Winry was able to grab onto the the second rung. After this, it was easy to climb the rest of the way up the ladder. She ignored the sting in her hand until she got to the top and collapsed on the metal catwalk. Allowing herself a few moments to catch her breath, Winry sat up and pulled herself to her feet. Her room was on the third floor, so that meant two flights of stairs for her to climb.

Another typical day in the life of Winry Rockbell.

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 **Winry's back! Winry's character was actually one of the reasons why it took me so long to start writing Kingdom. Her original reintroduction scene was completely different, I didn't like how that scene portrayed her and ended up having to rewrite most of the chapters. But now I'm pretty happy with this version of Winry and the role she'll play in Kingdom.**

 **I bet you're wondering who she was hiding from. You'll find out next chapter.**

 **One of my favorite things about writing this story is that I can finally use characters like Lust, Ling, and Envy. The idea of Envy being Ed and Al's brother is from the 2003 version of Fullmetal Alchemist. As much as I dislike that version; Envy being their brother was a great idea. I can't recall too many stories where Envy is related to them, or where he's a good guy (more or less). I'm also excited to develop the 'relationship' between him and Solaris.**

 **Personally I think that this chapter is where the story of Kingdom truly begins. It should start to pick up from here on.**

 **Please review! I want to know if you all still like this story; there weren't many reviews for the last chapter.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hi guys, sorry that I haven't updated in awhile but I've been really busy. I'm so glad to see that everyone's so excited to see Winry.**

 **Warning: There is some content in this chapter that might disturb some readers.**

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 **23 Police Precinct, Central City:**

Captain Mustang wasn't doing his paperwork…again.

Sergeant Riza Hawkeye sighed as she looked at her superior officer from her desk. The shades to his office were open; allowing her to see into the room. The captain was leaning back in his chair, staring up at the ceiling. The carefree look on his face caused her to grip her pen even tighter. Riza shook her head, she shouldn't let Roy's procrastinating affect her own job performance. With another sigh Hawkeye swiftly got back to work. She was currently filling out her own paperwork and reports for a case. It was a simple breaking and entering. The suspect, who turned out to be the neighbor, had unlocked one of the apartments windows before making off with a substantial amount of pawnable items. The report was easy enough to fill out. It was just taking longer than it should have due to the fact that Riza's partner, Detective Vato Falman, was on sick leave.

Vato was a long time veteran of the force. Although he wasn't the most confident man she knew, he was a more than satisfactory partner to work with.

Riza finished the last page and promptly stacked the forms into a neat pile. However before she could file the paperwork, her phone rang.

"This is Detective Hawkeye." She said as she answered the call.

"We have a report of a possible homicide on Youswell street. Possibly two victims. We have one officer on scene."

"Thank you Dispatch. I'm on my way." Riza spoke curtly before placing the phone down. She opened her desk drawer and pulled out a standard Glock 22. Riza checked to see that the weapon was loaded and the safety off before sliding it into her holster. Hawkeye then grabbed her coat and was about to head out when she heard his voice.

"Heading out?"

Riza stopped in her movements and turned to see Roy leaning against the doorframe of his office. His face was set in a bored expression, but his smirk was teasing. Her eyes narrowed slightly as she wondered when he'd decided to get off his ass.

"Yes, sir." She answered, keeping her voice respectable. Hawkeye then motioned towards Roy's desk. "I'm sure you have paperwork to get back to sir."

"Actually…" Captain Mustang drawled, his coat was suddenly over his shoulder. "I was just thinking about stretching my legs. I'll come with you."

Hawkeye sighed. "Sir, you should-"

"Too late to argue." Roy cut her off, his smirking grin back as he closed the office door behind him. His face then turned serious as he started walking towards her. "Besides, no detective of mine goes out alone. I thought you knew that."

Hawkeye glanced around the floor at the other desks around her. Havoc and Breda were out on a case; Alex and Kain as well. Rebecca was on a two week vacation. Everyone else was busy filling out paperwork, or conducting other duties. Riza just looked back at her commanding officer as she realized there was no point in arguing; it would only waste more time.

"Alright, but I drive."

It didn't take them long to get to the parking lot and soon Riza was driving through the streets of Central. Roy was in the passenger seat resting his chin on his hand as he stared out at the busy city. It looked grayer than usual.

"Why does it have to be raining?" He drawled.

"You were the one who volunteered to come out with me, sir." Riza reminded him.

"Correct as always detective." Mustang smirked at her. "I was just lamenting on rain's wonderful ability to wash away evidence. So what's the situation we're going to?"

"A possible homicide on Youswell street." Riza told him.

"Indoors or outdoors?" Mustang asked glancing out the window, up to the dark rain clouds.

"Not sure, sir." She answered. "We'll find out."

"Youswell huh?" Mustang said as he leaned back in his seat. "Do you think Yoki had anything to with it?"

"We shouldn't speculate until we actually see the crime scene and hear from medical examiner." Riza said, then glanced over for a second. "But yes, probably."

"Perhaps this will be a break, help us bring that little bastard down." Mustang smirked before a serious look came over his face. "It be nice to actually arrest one of these fuckers."

Hawkeye merely chewed her lip and nodded in response. While the Hohenheims themselves were untouchable, some of the lower bosses were fair game.

Roy shook his head. "Plus, I think it'd be good publicity for your grandfather. A crime boss off the streets. How's the old man doing by the way?"

"Already getting ready for reelection." Hawkeye answered.

Roy let out a laugh. "That doesn't surprise me." His mind then quickly turned back to the crime scene they are driving to. "Knowing Yoki, if this was indeed a hit, it'll have been very sloppily carried out." Mustang leaned back into his chair. "Which will make our jobs easier."

"Actually it'll be my job, sir. Remember, you're just along for the ride." Hawkeye said in her usual monotone. However, Mustang could pick up something else hidden in her voice. She was teasing him.

"Why, then I guess I'll just have to sit back and let you do all the work then." He smirked at her. Roy saw the faintest hint of a smile form on her lovely face. A few moments passed in a comfortable silence before he spoke again.

"So...are you doing anything later, Sergeant?"

Hawkeye raised an eyebrow at her superior. "Sir, now is the not the most appropriate time for this."

"We've already discussed all relevant information about the scene and we have eight more blocks to go." Mustang said. At the moment Riza had to stop the car for a red light. The rain seemed to be falling harder. "At the moment we're just two people on a drive. Besides when else are going to have a chance to talk." As soon as he finished speaking Roy leaned in and gave her a quick kiss on the lips. Riza's mouth formed a small smile and she looked back to the street in front of them. The light had turned green as she drove the car forward.

"Please, sir." She said, still trying to keep a somewhat professional attitude. "I'm trying to concentrate on the road." Though even as she spoke, her fingers interlocked with Mustang's as she kept her other hand firmly on the wheel. Mustang hummed in response and ran his thumb over her surprisingly soft knuckles.

"I heard that you got coffee with officer Ross last week." Riza commented lightly.

This brought a grin to the Captain's face. "Jealous?" Mustang asked..

"Hardly." Riza shook her head.

"I was checking in on her." Mustang said. "I wanted to see how she was holding up after the Calvary Street shooting."

"Was she?" Riza asked with some concern. She'd seen Maria around the precinct, but hadn't had a chance to talk to her.

"I believe so." Mustang answered.

"Ross is a good officer." Hawkeye nodded. "What did you tell her?"

"The hard truth. I told her it was better to live with the devil that you knew, rather than one you didn't. That things could always be a lot worse." Mustang looked back out the window. Riza nodded in response. Despite everything, things could definitely be worse.

"When was the first time you had to deal with one of them?"

Hawkeye glanced over at him in surprise at his sudden question.

"My first day as a detective actually." Hawkeye said quietly. "Vato had answered a call about a body in the river. This was my first time going out with him so he was still showing me the ropes. As we drove he told me a few jokes to try and keep me from getting nervous on my first case. When we got to the scene, he instantly knew what it was and more importantly who had ordered it." Riza gave a small sigh before continuing. "As I said, Vato had been making jokes and smiling during the entire ride. But shortly after we arrived at the crime scene, he changed completely. Scar was there."

Riza paused to glance over at Roy for second. "The body turned out to be a lawyer. His name was Jim Kuether; mid twenties, single. He worked at a small firm who'd happened to take the case of an elderly couple that were fighting the development of a...I can't even remember what they turned it into. Anyways, the couple was displaced from their homes by the developers; several of whom had connections to Van Hohenheim. I guess Kuether didn't pay attention to any of the threats, so he ended up dead. I don't know if Scar personally killed him, but he was there to make it go away. Vato did a good job of holding it together, but I could tell that he was terrified. Shortly after we got there, Scar took him to the side and they talked briefly. When he came back, Vato had this almost traumatized look on his face. He never told me what Scar said to him, no matter how many times I've asked him."

Mustang was looking at Riza with a sad frown. "How come I've never heard that story before?"

"Because I don't really like talking about the day that I realized we couldn't do our own jobs." She sighed as glanced ahead of them. "I don't know how you deal with it all, Roy. If it was me as Captain, I'd have probably quit by now."

Roy gave Riza a half smile; his hand squeezed hers. "We do what we can. One day things will change. Fear can't hold a city together forever. For better or for worse, things are going to change and we'll have to be there."

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 **Leto's Diner:**

"Winry, table number 12 needs more napkins."

"Right away Mr. Stoddard." Winry said curtly as she moved to complete the aforementioned task. 'So a family of four; maybe four-five napkins? Yeah five napkins seems enough.'

She stopped when she saw that the family's toddler was tossing his food around.

'Make that ten napkins.' She sighed as she turned around and grabbed five more. Winry placed the napkins down, barely avoiding a flying handful of oatmeal. After humbly waving off an apology from the child's mother, Winry headed to the counter with a tired look in her eyes. A quick glance at the clock showed that she had half an hour left in her shift.

"Can't wait to get out of here, eh Winry?" Mr. Stoddard chuckled as he watched Winry stop to lean against the wall. "Somewhere else you'd like to be?" He was a relatively short man with a black, pointed moustache; always wearing a white kitchen apron and a hair net.

Winry gave a halfhearted laugh in reply and shook her head. "Sorry, I-I didn't get much sleep last night." said with a weak smile.

"Well, it looks like it's a slow one, today." Stoddard murmured as he leaned on his elbows. His eyes sweeping over the mostly empty diner. "Probably 'cus that college football game happening."

"Do you think we're going to win this year?" Winry asked glancing in a small mirror to look at the bags under her eyes. Secretly she couldn't care less who won the game.

"Ha!" Stoddard laughed. "The day those chicken shits win that championship is the day I'll give up on this blasted radio." He nudged the aforementioned relic which stood proudly on the bar. Winry couldn't help but smile; ever since she started working here her boss had been tinkering with that radio. So far he hadn't been able to get it working.

"You know Mr. Stoddard. If you let me, I could take a look at it?" Winry asked after a moment.

Her boss looked at her with a raised eyebrow. "Oh yeah, sometimes I forget you're also a mechanic. Thanks for the offer, but I'll have to turn you down. This is my pet project so it'll either sink or sail by my own hand."

Winry's smile dipped slightly and she gave a small smile. "I can understand that, boss." She said in almost a whisper.

Stoddard glanced back at Winry, frowning at the look at her face. "Hey, you okay Winry? It's just a radio."

Winry immediately snapped back to attention, giving her boss a reassuring smile. "Yeah, sorry. I-I just got lost in thought. There's been a lot on my mind lately."

The moustached man's brow furrowed. "Winry…I know it's only been a few weeks since your grandmother's…" He chewed his lip nervously. "If you want to take some time off-"

"No!" Winry said rather loudly. She cringed as her high volume turned a few heads. "Sorry." Winry whispered as she glanced around; looking for a way out of the awkward situation she'd just created. "Table 4 needs more water." She said to Mr. Stoddard then grabbed a jug of drinking water and walked away.

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 **The Ouroboros.**

"AAHHH oh God! Please! Please! Don't-"

The pleading man was cut off by a sharp metal edge plunging its way into his throat. The male's eyes bugged out as his blood filled his throat. His mouth opened and closed in choking gasps. Those were the only sounds he could make as the sharp blade in his neck was twisted and pulled out with a sickening squelch.

Solaris stepped back with a wicked smile on her face as she watched the man slowly choke on his own blood. The sharpen metal claw on her index finger dripped blood onto the plastic tarps covering the floor. Blood spurted like a fountain from the bound man's throat as he fell to the ground. The claw's steel edges clicked as she tapped her index finger against her thumb. It looked like a normal leather glove, except for the razor sharp blades built into it. Solaris loved to use this toy whenever she had a guest in her 'playroom'.

Solaris' other hand rested snugly on her cocked hip as she watched the thrashing figure. The man kicked as he gave out his last gurgled breaths, falling face first in a large pool of his own blood. Once the man finally quieted she let out a husky chuckle.

"I always do love watching a man squirm." Solaris said with a chuckle. "Don't you, Glu?"

She held her right hand out expectantly. Gluttony, who had been standing off to the side, walked forward and carefully pulled the glove off her hand with a white handkerchief. Behind Gluttony stood another figure; this one much smaller and female.

"Oh Juliet." Solaris raised her head to look at her secretary. "Do make sure he arrives at Issac's in a timely manner."

"Right away Ma'am." Juliet Douglas answered dutifully as she pulled her cellphone out and began dialing.

"Ahhh." Solaris sighed and stretched her arms above her head, arching her back. "That was fun." She dropped her arms, using one hand to brush her luscious black hair.

"Come Gluttony." Solaris snapped her fingers and turned around to walk out of her playroom. "You too, Juliet."

The two people dutifully followed their mistress as she made her way down the hallway, her two inch high heels clicking on the floor.

"Ma'am?" Juliet walked faster to catch up with her boss. "The new tables arrived today."

"Oh yes, the replacements for the ones you had ordered two weeks ago. Do remind me as to why I told you to order new ones." Solaris said in a bored voice. Her purple eyes zeroing in on her brown haired assistant as she looked over her shoulder.

"You said they weren't good enough." Juliet said, a little meekly. Solaris was a frightening woman; even to those close to her. Her fierce nature and dangerous beauty could make her a startling sight to behold. "That was last week, Ma'am. You told me to order new ones."

"Then these new ones better be an improvement." Solaris was still looking at her. "I don't think the playroom will be clean for another hour so by then I better be impressed."

Juliet froze in her movements, staring at Solaris with wide eyes. Solaris turned around as well, her mouth a sick smirk as she watched the trembling young woman. Suddenly, she let out a small laugh.

"Calm down, Sweetie." The raven haired woman said as she cupped Juliet's cheek with her a silk gloved hand. "There's no need to be afraid. You know I always take care of my girls."

Juliet's startled look lasted a few more moments before she gave a small, albeit, nervous smile. "Do you want to inspect them, Ma'am?" She asked, with more confidence.

"I'll do it before the 6:00, later." Solaris said as she sauntered away. "Right now, I need to-"

"MS. SOLARIS!" A voice rang out down the hallway.

Solaris' eyes narrowed and she quickly took off in the direction of the voice. She moved swiftly despite the tightness of her black dress, gliding more than running. Her heels clicked loudly off the floor as Solaris stomped out of the back hallways and into the main floor of the Ouroboros. There she saw a group of her girls huddled around a table; several of the bouncers were there as well. Solaris narrowed her eyes even more and started making her way towards the group. Behind her she could hear Gluttony's heavy breaths as he struggled to keep up.

The loud click of her heels on the dance floor drew attention as one of the girls turned towards Solaris. "Ma'am!" She gasped and broke away from the group to come towards her.

"What is it Rose?" Solaris asked with a frown. A quick glance at the cluster of people showed that they seemed to be surrounding someone.

The young, pink haired woman gritted her teeth and her hands clenched into fists. Solaris stared suspiciously at the anger radiating from the usually calm girl.

"It's Emma, Ma'am." Rose said. "We found her."

Solaris' frown deepened. Emma was a young woman of 23 years; with lovely black hair and a charming smile. She was one of Solaris' loveliest and most popular girls. Unfortunately, she hadn't been to work for several days. Sloppiness was something that Solaris did not tolerate and had ordered that Emma be found at once to explain herself. But judging by the look on Rose's face, laziness wasn't the reason for Emma's absence.

"Step aside." Solaris ordered. Instantly Rose and the others parted like the Red Sea; allowing her to walk through. Emma was seated at the center of the group. Solaris' eyes darkened as she took in the young woman before her. Emma's black hair was a mess; her eyes were bloodshot and tear stained. A blanket was dropped over her trembling frame as silent sobs wracked the young woman. Several of Solaris' other girls were comforting the poor thing, Julia was holding her hand while Clara rubbed her back reassuringly. As Solaris examined Emma, her eyes eventually locked on the girl's hand which Julia was holding. Although the blanket covered most the trembling girl, part of her arm was still visible. There were bruises in the unmistakable shapes of fingertips, as well as red swelling where her skin had been broken by needles. These blemishes ran up and down her arm.

Solaris tore her eyes away from the scene and towards the two men who stood nearby. "Where did you find her?"

The two men glanced at each other hesitantly before one of them, a black haired man named Lujon, turned back to her.

"We found her in one of Tucker's houses."

Solaris growled loudly, rage filling her completely, from her carefully painted nails to the metal tips of her heels.

"MOTHERFUCKER!" She screamed loudly, grabbing a nearby chair and flinging it across the room. It smashed into one of the window booths, cracking the glass.

"SOMEBODY FIX THAT!" She shouted loudly, pointing at the broken glass before turning her ferocious glare back to the startled group in front of her.

"NOW!"

Immediately several staff members from the bar ran towards the damaged booth and got to work. Solaris' breaths were coming out in snarls as the urge to kill someone right now was very tempting. Suddenly she felt a large hand on her shoulder, glancing down she saw Gluttony staring up at her with concern in his small eyes. Immediately some of the tension left Solaris' body and she took several breaths to calm down. After a moment, Solaris ran a hand through her long hair and turned back towards the group before her.

"Take her to my office. Call a doctor. Somebody get her some damn water!"

Rose nodded and moved swiftly towards the bar. Julia and Clara started helping Emma to her feet. The poor girl kept her head low and hugged the blanket closer around her. "M-M-Ma'am?" Emma's voice was small and shaky.

"Shhhhh." Solaris said soothingly, carefully placing a hand on Emma's shoulder. She was pleased that Emma didn't try to flinch away. "It's ok, come with me dear." She gently wrapped her arm around the fragile girl and lead her away.

"I'm sorry, Ma'am. I-I didn't want to go with them. But he h-had photos of me." Emma sobbed. "They…t-they hurt me!"

"It's not your fault." Solaris' voice held none of the burning rage which was simmering within her. Instead it was soft, kind, almost motherly. "Don't worry, everything will be alright. Do you remember what I said to you on your first day here."

Emma's trembling body seemed to relax slightly; though only very slightly. "Y-you said that you take care of your girls."

"That's right sweetie." Solaris pulled her into a gentle hug. "That's right." She felt Emma resting her head on her shoulder.

It was known throughout all of Central that the women under Solaris' employment were special to her. 'No one fucks with Solaris' girls.' People would say. Well someone had just fucked with one of her girls. A depraved, disgusting little shit of a man named Shou Tucker.

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 **Farragut Street:**

Winry was walking down a rather drizzly sidewalk. She still wore her waitress uniform under her rain jacket; having not had any time to change out of it. 'Ok, fifteen minutes to walk home, about thirty minutes to change and take a shower. That gives me about uh…less than an hour to get to Dominic's.'

Her black converse splashed in a puddle, shaking Winry from her thoughts. The young blond blinked twice before realizing she was almost home. Or at least the apartment where she slept and occasionally ate at. Winry tugged the big rain coat tighter around her frame as she entered Farragut Street; covering as much of her body as possible.

'Damn it.' She thought, moving quickly now. If they were out and about, then they'd have already seen her by now. Besides, the last time Winry had tried to climb up the fire escape while it had been raining; she'd fallen and almost broken her ankle. With that unpleasant memory in mind, Winry's shoulders sagged in defeat and she kept walking down the sidewalk. The door to her apartment building was only 15 feet away at the moment and there was no one in sight. Time to just fucking run for it!

Winry took off sprinting, not caring who saw her. Her shoes splashed loudly in the puddles as she got closer and closer to the door. Winry was practically there when a tall figure suddenly emerged from an alleyway in front of her. It only took her a second to recognize his dark tan jacket and black eyepatch.

"Hey Rocky."

Winry practically skidded to a halt as the grinning man blocked her path completely. Panic, and a tiny bit of bile, rose in her throat; but she forced it back down. Instead Winry fought to keep a somewhat calm facade as she stared back at the man before her.

"Bald." She acknowledged him, her voice bitter. Before her stood the source of all her troubles from the last few weeks. Living on Farragut street hadn't always been bad. It had been fairly normal until Bald and his thugs had shown up several weeks back. Now Winry had to sneak around like a fugitive just to get back to her own apartment.

The bitterness in her voice didn't faze him. "Sooo…Rocky." He continued. "How ya been lately? It's been awhile since any of us have seen yeh pretty face."

"I've been busy." Winry said, moving to try and walk around the large man. He however stepped to the side, blocking her path once again.

"Ya haven't been avoiding us now have ya? He asked with a smirk.

"No." Winry said too quickly. His grin only widened.

"Sure ya have." He chuckled. "Been scrambling around to get some last minute cash together? It's alright, long as ya got enough. Everyone has to pay their due."

Winry swallowed nervously. Despite all the extra work she'd been putting in, she hadn't been able to get enough for them. It didn't help that they seemed to raise their 'taxes' every week. Bald's one good eye looked down at her with mirth. The anxiety must have shown on her face because he sighed in annoyance.

"Oh no." Bald said slowly. "I take the unnecessarily tense silence as a sign that ya don't have it. Damn Rocky, ya was doing so good."

One of his hands fell on her shoulder. The weight of it and the subtle creaking of cogs and wires told her it was his automail arm. This was only confirmed when Winry felt metal fingers dig into her skin through the jacket. She gave a gasp and tried to step away from him, but his hard grip held her in place. Panic started to fill Winry; there was no possible way she could out fight someone like him.

"This isn't good, Rocky." Bald started drumming his fingers harshly on her small shoulder. "What am I supposed to do with ya?" His flesh hand rubbed the back his head thoughtfully.

Winry quickly glanced around the street; her heart now thumping wildly in her chest. Although she couldn't see anyone, she knew they were watching. She could feel her neighbors watching what was happening to her right now and not doing anything.

But what could they do anyway?

Gulping nervously, Winry looked back at Bald. His harsh gaze was currently moving up her body until it finally settled back on her face.

"Well?" He asked menacingly.

"Please." Winry said nervously. She didn't care if she was begging. Winry knew that if she didn't say the right thing, that she may end up dead. With a trembling voice, she pleaded her case. "I just need a little more time. I'm almost there. Give me a few more days and I'll have enough for this week and for last week as well. I promise!"

"Is that so?" Bald asked. "I don't know about that, Rocky. If we started giving out free passes than more people would start being late with their dues. Suddenly everyone would be turning in money late and no one can keep track of jackshit. If we don't know who's paid us and who hasn't, how do we know who to protect?"

"Have I ever been late before on a payment?" Winry asked, almost desperately. "The last few weeks have been rough with having to pay for the funeral, but that's done now so I should be good." Bald's face never changed during her plea. "I'm starting to get back on track." She kept going. "Just give me a pass right now and you'll never have to worry about me being late again. If you want…I'll even work on your automail for free." The idea of fixing his arm disgusted Winry, no way in hell did she want to help this bastard. But hey, desperate times call for desperate measures.

Her last sentence seemed to resonate with him as Bald raised an eyebrow; seeming to mull over Winry's words. However her hopes were dashed when he grinned wickedly.

"As tempting as that offer is, I already have myself a cheap mechanic." Bald drawled. "However…" His gaze once again swept over her body, only this time more slowly. Like he was mentally undressing her. "...I am open to other possibilities where the two of us could get real close and personal."

Winry felt her body shudder in revulsion and she immediately resumed her struggle to get out of Bald's grip. However, her attempts were abruptly cut off by him laughing.

"But we can talk about that another time." He released his grip on her shoulder causing her to stumble back. "Yeh right Rocky. This is only yeh first instance of slacking off. Since I'm in such a generous mood at the moment, I'll give ya the free pass that ya so desperately want." He stepped away from her, opening the sidewalk for her to pass. He held his arm out, telling her to start moving.

'I'm sure you told Lewis the same thing.' Winry thought as she quickly walked past him and made her way to her apartment building. She walked up the steps as fast as she could and began to fumble with her key.

"Be seeing ya soon."

Winry paused in her movements to glance over at Bald. He was staring up at her with a knowing smirk. Suddenly thunder sounded across the sky causing Winry to quickly rip open the door and run inside.

She made sure to slam it as loudly as possible.

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 **I think this might be the first multi chaptered story I've done where Winry doesn't spend the whole time in long term captivity. Sure her life is in danger, but at least she's not a prisoner.**

 **If you couldn't tell, Mr. Stoddard is meant to be the shopkeeper in Liore whose radio Ed and Al break. Once again, I used the voice actor's name whose full name is Mark Stoddard.**

 **Please Review! I want to hear your thoughts on the story and characters. What did you like? What didn't you like? Is there anything you're especially looking forward to? Please let me know.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Hey guys I'm back! Sorry it's been a while, midterms were rough.**

 **Something that I'm going to start doing now is actually responding to your reviews. I'm always asking you guys to review, so I might as well respond. For now I'll just respond to the reviews for chapter 5.**

 **Joker Oak: Thanks, I'm glad that the story is developing well. I was kinda worried about how it would all play out and if people would like it. You're smart to surmise the Ed might be kicking some debt collector ass, but we'll just have to see.**

 **BabygirlMari: Lol, trust me no one wants all these characters to meet more than me. But I'm really happy that you're looking forward to it. I had a lot of fun writing for Roy and Riza. I don't ship them as much as I do Ed and Winry, but I enjoyed their scene.**

 **Librafire: So glad that you like the parts about Winry. Originally I couldn't figure out how to introduce her and finally came up with the scenario with Bald.**

 **Vhosek: Glad you're enjoying this story so far. I'm looking forward to more Royai too. Also glad you're not sick of me constantly putting Winry in shitty situations.**

 **Aggie12: Don't worry, it'll happen soon. Maybe sooner than you think.**

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 **Central City:**

People say that absolute power corrupts absolutely.

Why?

Why does a person, who up until now, strove forward with the most noblest of intentions always seem to lose it all once they get what they most coveted? Is it the nature of power that corrupts, or is it just the nature of humans? That once a person is given the ability to obtain everything they've ever wanted, their inner demons are awakened. They now have the power to right any wrong that has ever been done to them. They can take back anything that has been taken from them. They can punish whoever in their minds deserves to be punished. How can anyone not give in to this; not succumb to the most selfish of inclinations? For the first time in their previously inconsequential lives they are now the complete master of their fate.

But is it ever enough?

Van Hohenheim hadn't asked that question to himself in eleven years. It was on that day so long ago that he had figured out the answer.

No.

He could never truly have everything he wanted. It was as if fate had needed a sacrifice for everything that it had given to him. Taken the very thing that he had loved the most for what he had coveted the most.

In the end it was all rather simple. Equivalent exchange.

Van sat in his usual silence as his limo drove through the raining streets of his city. His body was relaxed, his eyes closed. The sounds of the city blurred as they zipped past him. But he listened to every one of them. Every hello between friends. Every angry shout or honk of a car horn. The bark of the family dog as its young owners took it for a walk. This city was always alive; in its own way a living, breathing creature. Hohenheim had learned long ago that Central was in fact a wild beast. Like any wild beast, if left unsupervised, it could devour everything in sight.

Many had tried to tame it. Only he had succeeded.

"Van?"

Van opened his eyes, looking at Fu who sat across from him. "Yes Sun?"

The older Xingese man had been talking into a cell phone. "The Mayor just finished with his last meeting for the day. Are you ready for him to see you?"

Van said merely nodded in response as the limo drove further through the busy streets. Fu merely went back to talking on the phone. Van wasn't a cold person, he merely found enjoyment in comfortable silences. After several moments, he noticed that Fu was lightly tapping a finger against his seat. The smallest ghost of a smile briefly formed before evaporating.

Fu was highly skilled at not showing any emotion; creating a mask to hide behind him. His early years as a hitman had led to the creation of such a mask. He'd been more easygoing back then, when he and Hohenheim had first met. Now years later, his profession had hardened Fu until his mask of indifference was his go to expression. But Van knew how to read his old friend based on the tiny details. Like the brief twitch of a brow, or in this case, the tapping of his finger.

"Is there something you wish to say, Sun?"

Fu turned to look Van in the face. "Just thinking about the future sir."

"What else is there to think about?" Van asked rhetorically. "What else matters."

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 **Central Town Hall:**

"Sir, are you ready?" A middle aged woman asked. "Your car is waiting outside."

"Alright, alright." Mayor William Grumman waved her off as he walked out of the meeting room. He had just endured a three hour meeting with the city's Janitors Union.

And now he had this to deal with.

"Sir." His assistant cut him out of his thoughts. "Your...uh meeting with Mr. Hohem-"

"Don't say his name!" Grumman snapped. "This meeting isn't happening. Do you understand?"

"Y-yes sir." His assistant stuttered nervously.

Grumman shook his head and pulled his coat on. "What does my schedule for the rest of day look like?"

"Well sir, you're meeting your granddaughter for lunch at 2:30. Shall I tell her you can't make it?"

"No, no." Grumman sighed, his right hand twirled a few strands of his moustache. "This shouldn't take that long...I should get going." He then started walking down the hallway towards the back exit where a black car was currently waiting for him. His driver was holding the car door open with an umbrella in hand. Wordlessly, the elderly mayor slid into the backseat with some assistance from the driver. His hand found its way to his mustache as he began twirling it again.

'Damn it all.' Grumman ran his other hand through his hair; grimacing when he felt an ever growing bald spot. He could hear the driver getting into the front seat and the engine starting up. The old man folded his arms as he sat back, on his way to meet with a man who he despised with every fiber of his being.

It took them eighteen minutes to drive to the location which Hohenheim had chosen: a park near the eastern edge of the city. The adjacent parking lot was completely empty so finding a spot was fairly easy. From there Grumman and his driver exited the vehicle and began walking through the deserted park. The driver holding an umbrella for the older man as the rain continued to come down.

He found Hohenheim standing next to a small bridge. By now the rain had turned to a light drizzle. The golden haired mobster stood tall, accompanied by his Xingese enforcer Sun Fu. Neither of them were holding an umbrella.

"Van?" Grumman called out.

Sharp amber eyes turned towards him. "Hello Bill." He regarded simply before turning back to what he was looking at. "Its pleasant to see that your duties didn't distract you for too long this time."

Grumman bit his lip to hold back the anger inside him. "Why are we meeting here of all places?" He was able to say through slightly gritted teeth.

"I like the park's view of the city. Especially from this particularly spot." Van said, still gazing at the distant skyscrapers. Despite his bitterness, Grumman did have to admit that the view was pretty nice.

"Besides sightseeing, are there any other reasons why you wanted to meet?"

"I'm sure you have an idea." Hohenheim said.

"Yeah...I uh heard about what happened with your son." Grumman sighed. He had been guessing that there would be some kind of response from Van about this. Though he wasn't quite sure. "I'm glad to hear he's alright." Not really.

"Thank you Bill." Hohenheim's face didn't change. "I think I can safely say that the incident should be one of the last drug caused shootings in this city."

Grumman's eyes widened slightly beneath his glasses. "Let me guess, your family is planning on taking over the drug trade? Hmff, took you long enough." He sighed.

"Personally I find the whole business to be an ugly one. But the future is the future."

'Ugly huh? Since when did you get so noble Hohenheim?' Grumman mused internally. But he dare not say those words out loud to the man before him. "So...how are you doing this?"

"Methodically." Van said. "Nothing you need to concern yourself with."

"What should I be concerned with?" Grumman asked.

"It is not what concerns you, but what concerns me." Van stood up as he said this and turned to look at him. "I hope that you will be agreeable."

Grumman sighed. "The amount of complaints and outcries which my office is going to be-oh you don't give a shit about my problems or anyone else's." He muttered.

"On the contrary, your problems are my problems. It is my hope that we can find a mutually beneficial agreement." Van, his voice somewhat less monotone. "Despite what you may believe Bill, I do love this city."

Grumman was silent for several moments. "I couldn't stop you even if I wanted."

"You could certainly be a hindrance." Van was looking out at the city again. "But hindrances in business are never good for our city."

"Our city?" Grumman scoffed.

"Bill, grow up." Van drawled. "You'll receive your compensation." He glanced over at him. "Your reelection is forthcoming is it not?"

Grumman sighed and folded his arms. "Yes." He grumbled.

"Your competition is quite an inspirational fellow. Younger and rather popular as well."

Grumman narrowed his eyes. Van responded with a thin line that could be considered a smirk in some cultures.

"Cheer up, Bill." Van said. "We're partners and only by working together can this city thrive." The rain continued to fall lightly around them, it's pitter patter being the only sound.

Grumman wanted to say many things to the man next to him. Wanted to prove to him that he wasn't weak, that he wouldn't be pushed around so easily. But now was neither the time or the place for such behavior. At least for now.

"Well Van, when you put it like that…

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 **Dominic's Automail Shop:**

'One week.'

Well, technically six days now. That's how much time Winry had to get the money for Bald. Six days until things would get ugly. She'd seen what Bald and his thugs had done to people who forgot their payments. To be honest, Winry was half considering just dropping everything and getting the hell out of Central. But she had neither the money, the resources, or the time to just move and start over. Besides where would she go?

'I could always try going to-' Winry's thoughts were cut off

"Hey Winry? You need help with that stuff?"

Winry jumped slightly before glancing down at the tools in her hands. Her cheeks turned pink as she realized she'd gotten lost in thought while putting away her tools. Giving her friend a sheepish smile, Winry quickly placed her wrench and screwdriver into the tool box.

"I'm good Paninya, thanks:"

"You sure you're good?" Her friend folded her arms as she looked at her with an eyebrow raised skeptically. She'd always been good at picking up on these kinds of things after her time in the military.

"Yeah." Winry said over her shoulder.

"Alright." Paninya said unconvinced, turning to leave before stopping herself. Winry continued to clean up until she felt her friend's strong arms wrap around her waist from behind. Winry stiffened in surprise and looked around at her friend who had a small, sympathetic smile on her face.

"When was the last time somebody gave you a good hug?" Paninya asked.

"Uh…Sheska...yesterday." Winry answered.

"Of course." Paninya stepped back, allowing Winry to turn around to face her.

"I know everybody's gotta be saying this, but if you want to talk about your grandmother, I'm here for you girl."

"I thought Sheska was your girl." Winry smiled.

"I can have different kinds of girls." Paninya answered with a playful shrug.

"This is starting to sound like some weird fantasy of yours." Winry folded her arms.

"You wish." Paninya smirked. Her smile softened a little and she placed a hand on Winry's shoulder. "But seriously if you need anything, Sheska and I are here for you."

Winry flinched at the hand being placed on the shoulder. The gesture reminded her of her encounter with Bald.

'I still have almost a week.' She reminded herself. 'Plenty of time…hopefully."

She smiled and thanked her friend before turning around to finish up cleaning up. "So what's on your plate for the rest of the night?" She asked.

Winry heard Paninya chuckle behind her. "Sheska will be by to pick me up soon and then we're gonna head to dinner. Do you want a lift?"

"No thanks." Winry responded. "I like to walk."

"You do know that Central's full of some pretty nasty people right?" Paninya asked.

Winry paused for moment in her movements. "Believe me I do."

Suddenly they heard a voice call out through the shop.

"Paninya? You in here?"

"Over here babe." Paninya called.

A young, bespectacled woman in her mid twenties entered the backroom. "Yeesh, are you two still working?"

"Naw, Dominic's already left. I'm just helping Winry clean up." Paninya smirked before walking over and giving Sheska a quick kiss on the cheek. Sheska gave a small blush and waved at Winry.

"Hey Win."

"Hey Sheska." Winry smiled at her other best friend. "How was the library today?"

At this Sheska's face lit up; as it always did when she had something important to say. "Oh yeah! You'll never guess who stopped by to check out a book!"

"The suspense is killing me." Paninya said smiling.

"Alphonse Hohenheim!"

Both Winry and Paninya's eyes widened in surprise. "Seriously?" They said simultaneously. A frown formed on Winry's face as she thought about an old memory of a golden man laying on her family couch.

"Yeah. Apparently he stops by all the time; it's just the first time I've ever seen him." Sheska said enthusiastically.

"What book did he check out?" Winry asked curiously.

"It was a fantasy novel; The Sacred Star of Milos."

At this Paninya laughed out loud. "Fantasy? Wow, who knew Alphonse Hohenheim was a dork!"

"Hey! The Star of Milos is a great novel!" Sheska challenged. "It was a lot better than its predecessor: Conqueror of Shamballa."

"Oh yeah, I forgot you've read every book in the whole library." Winry chuckled. "So what happened? Did you…talk to him?"

Sheska was nearly jumping in place. "Yes! I checked out the book for him."

"Well? What was he like?" Winry asked as she sat down on a stool.

"He was actually pretty…normal. A lot more polite and down to earth then I thought."

"From the way you've been describing him, it sounds like you have a crush on Alphonse." Paninya said with a teasing hint in her voice.

"What, it's exciting. I mean it was one of _them!_ It's like…meeting royalty." Sheska proclaimed. "Have you ever met one of the a Hohenheims before?"

"Yeah, that damn punk Envy. I saw him demolish a sports car with a sledgehammer. I don't know why he did it, but once he was done he made a bad pun about car insurance." Paninya deadpanned. "At least your Hohenheim was the cute one and not the psycho."

"Well some would argue that Edward is the 'cuter' of the three brothers." Sheska pointed out.

"How would you know?"

"Sometimes working at the library can be slow, so me and other librarians often talk." Sheska said.

"You talk about which Hohenheim is cuter? Wait, you're not switching teams on me are you?" Paninya smirked.

"Switching…ah!" Sheska threw her hands up in the air causing Paninya to laugh at her flustered girlfriend. "How about you Winry? You've been pretty quiet so far." The dark skinned woman said to the mechanic who appeared to be lost in thought.

"What about me?" Winry frowned.

"As the only straight person here, you can settle the debate. Who do _you_ think is the cutest of the three Hohenheims?" Paninya grinned.

Winry felt herself go rigid and she shifted nervously. "Well I've never met any of the Elric Brother's so I don't think I can add much to this debate." True, she'd never technically met one of the sons. The father on the other hand…

"Aw come on Win." Paninya whined; wrapping an arm around Winry's shoulders. "You've seen them in the newspapers. It can be purely on appearance."

"Uhhh…I don't really think about the Hohenheims a whole lot. But I guess the middle one; Edward." Winry stammered out. A quick glance at the clock showed that it was almost nine.

"Hey guys, what time were you planning on getting dinner?"

Sheska's eyes widened. "Oh shit, we need to get going. Hey Winry do you want to come along?"

"Naw, I'll pass." Winry chuckled as she finished closing her tool box. "I think you two will enjoy some time to yourselves." She grabbed her black jacket and put it on. She still wore her mechanic's jumpsuit and buttoned the wool coat over it.

"Be safe." Paninya called as Winry made her way outside. The air was slightly brisk, so she put her hands in her pockets.

'Hohenheim.' She thought, looking up at the tops of the tall buildings. Despite what she'd just told her friends, Winry did think about the Hohenheim family quite often. The patriarch, Van, and the infamous Elric Brothers. The three sons of Van Hohenheim were known as the Elric Brothers even though only one of them went with the name Elric. Elric was, from what she had heard from her Grandmother, the maiden name of Hohenheim senior's late wife. The middle son Edward used her name, while the youngest of them Alphonse used the Hohenheim name. The oldest one, Envy, had a different mother; but was legally a Hohenheim. Maybe it was because Elric was shorter and catchier than Hohenheim, but for whatever reason the three of them were known on the streets as the Elric Brothers. They were also called the Princes' of Central, enforcing the orders of their father.

'What did you do for them, dad?' Winry thought as she walked down the street. Memories of a bleeding man on her couch flashed in her mind again. She'd only been four at the time, yet she it had stuck with her ever since. Van Hohenheim had come to her house seeking her parents' help. He hadn't gone to a hospital, instead he'd trusted Winry's father to save his life. Why? No matter how many times Winry had asked them in the following years, her parents never gave her a real answer. In fact they pretended like the incident had never happened. Her curiosity had only grown once she realized who exactly Van Hohenheim was. One day her dad sat Winry down and said that she'd understand when she was older. However, that answer had never come and instead Winry saw Hohenheim for a second time.

" _My condolences for your lost."_

Winry remembered her parent's funeral and the five words that the king of Central had spoken to her. Those were the only words she'd ever received from him and they only increased her curiosity in the mysterious relationship between her parents and Van Hohenheim. A part of her always wondered if their connection to Hohenheim had anything to do with their deaths. Winry had thought that her grandmother, Pinako, would give her the answers which she sought. Instead, Granny had practically forbidden any mention of the name Hohenheim. Shortly after her parents funeral, Winry and her grandmother had moved to Pinako's hometown of Resembool.

Away from Central and the Hohenheims.

'But now I'm back.'

Suddenly, Winry was roughly grabbed by her arm and yanked off the sidewalk. A cry escaped Winry's lips as she was dragged into an alley. Her legs tripped over themselves and she found herself falling onto the hard pavement.

"Wha-!" Winry's cry was muffled by a large hand roughly grabbing her mouth and silencing her. More hands grabbed her arms and held them still as she was dragged further into the alley by several large men. Winry struggled to get free, but their bruising grips were too strong.

"How ya doing Rocky?"

Winry froze as she looked up to see Bald grinning down at her. She was roughly pulled into a uncomfortable sitting position; allowing her to see all of her assailants. There were three other men in the alley with them. One was behind her with his hand over her mouth. The other two were painfully gripping her arms; nearly cutting off blood circulation. The strong scent of alcohol was practically flooding her nose. They all had crooked smiles on their faces.

"What's a matter Rocky?" Bald asked, his voice slightly slurred. "Cat got ya tongue?"

Winry tried to yank her arms away from them, but they held firm, only causing the men to laugh at her futile efforts.

"Okay, okay." Bald said. "Now...I know I said ya had a week…but…I change my mind. Let's see what ya have."

"Ah!" Winry winced as she was practically shoved into the brick wall of the alley. Her arms were tugged until they were being pinned above her head. The side of her face was pushed painfully into the bricks. Winry's blood ran cold as she realized that she was trapped.

"Let me go!" She cried out.

"Shut up!" She heard Bald shout and then she felt their hands on her. Winry gasped and starting struggling desperately; no doubt looking like an animal in a trap. Their hands roughly ran over her body until they found the lump of her wallet. Bald pulled her wallet from the pocket and began searching through it. Winry's body was shaking; from both fear and disgust as the men's hands had lingered in certain areas.

'Oh god.' She thought, trying to fight back tears. 'I don't have enough. I don't have enough!' Her fingers dug into the brick as Winry waited for her fate to be decided. What were they going to do to her? A part of her knew the answer to that question and her fear only increased.

Suddenly, Bald's automail hand wrapped around the back of her head, pushing her harder against the brick. She whimpered in pain as his larger body leaned in closer.

"It's not enough, Rocky." His alcohol laced breath brushed her ear and stung her nose. "Remember that other close and personal option I mentioned...let's try it."

Winry's blood turned to ice. "Please don't!"

She was viciously yanked away from the wall and thrown onto the filthy alley floor. She hit the unforgiving ground hard, her head making contact. Before Winry could scramble away, the men were already on top of her. She let out a scream; praying that someone would hear.

 _Crack!_

Winry's head snapped to the side as one of the men backhanded her violently across the face. The blow had her seeing stars. The laughing got louder and greedy hands were ripping the buttons off her coat. Winry tried to claw at their hands with her nails, but her arms were quickly pinned down. Hot tears were now streaming from Winry's eyes as the soul crushing realization that this was happening to her set in. No matter how hard she struggled it was no use. A sudden heavy weight on her chest knocked the wind out of her. She gasped for air before looking up to see Bald leering down at her.

"I told ya, yous was gonna in pay one way or anoth-"

"GET OFF HER!"

Bald glanced to the side just in time for an automail knee to come crashing into his face. This sent the thug falling back, slamming into two of his men. The remaining one stepped back in alarm as a dark skinned woman struck a defensive stance in front of Winry.

"Paninya?" Winry gasped weakly as she pushed herself to the other side of the alley.

Paninya glanced back to look at her briefly before the alarmed man charged her. Paninya turned with a roundhouse kick, sending him crashing to the ground as well. Winry could only stare at the scene in shock before she was yanked to her feet. Then before she could get her bearings, Paninya was practically carrying her out of the alley. Leaving the drunken thugs stumbling over each other, struggling to get up.

Outside the alley, Paninya held Winry steady as Sheska came barreling up with their car. When it pulled up Paninya threw Winry into the vehicle and quickly climbed in. "Go!" She shouted to Sheska at the front wheel. Sheska stomped on the accelerator and the car quickly drove off. Paninya turned to Winry.

"You alright Win?" She said, concern and anger still shining strong in her eyes. Winry didn't respond and simply hugged herself with her arms. Her face was still throbbing from Bald's strike, an ugly bruise was definitely on its way.

"Hey." Paninya put a hand on her friend's shoulders and gently pulled her into a hug. "You're okay. You're safe. We've got you." Paninya hugged her close, rubbing a hand soothingly up and down her back.

"Who the hell were those guys?" Sheska cried hysterically from the front seat.

Winry was still waiting for her head to stop spinning, but managed to mumble out a response. "They're the assholes from my street."

"Oh Christ this is bad!"

"Shit." Paninya muttered before locking eyes briefly with Sheska. The dark skinned girl sighed and turned back to her injured friend. "Here, let me take a look at your face." She pushed the hair out of Winry's face.

"You've got a good shiner setting in." Paninya looked over her face. "A few scratches too. Now tell me, do you have a headache or do you feel numb in any way?"

"I thought I was the doctor?" Winry mumbled, flashing a small crooked smile despite the rather shitty situation she was in.

"Do I need to drive to the hospital?" Sheska asked as she drove through the streets of Central.

"I'm fine." Winry stated as she pushed herself up into a sitting position. "Just keep driving."

"To where?" Sheska was starting to sound exasperated.

"The police." Paninya said angrily.

"What?" Winry's head whipped around to stare at her friend. "No, no that'll-"

"That'll what, Winry?" Paninya growled. "Make things worse? Those fuckheads attacked you! They know where you live so you can't go back there. We need to deal with this!"

"Don't yell at her." Sheska snapped.

"Hey! I'm not a child." Winry shouted over them before slouching back into her seat. "Fuck my life." She sighed. Several moments passed before Winry opened her eyes. "Ok, let's go to the police."

Paninya's face softened and she once again wrapped an arm around Winry. "Are you sure you're okay?"

"Yeah." Winry muttered as she patted her friend's arm. "Thank you."

"Don't mention it."

 **OoO**

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 **OoO**

 **The Ouroboros:**

Gluttony stood by the bar of the Ouroboros watching the dance the floor with slight agitation. The club had been closed all day and its main floor converted into an armory. Dozens of men were unpacking and assembling various weapons ranging from Desert Eagles to fully automatic assault rifles. Gluttony knew all of their faces and most of their names. They all worked for his sister and to a lesser degree they worked for him. A good number of them were either related to or had some connection to Solaris' girls. For example, two of his sister's top lieutenants were men named Ashley Crichton and Cain Thomas. Ashley was the older brother of Julia and Cain was married to another dancer named Rose. Glancing back at the arsenal before him, Gluttony saw some of the girls were also helping with the weapons. Clara, a blond former thief, was loading and unloading a rather shiny Mossberg 500 shotgun.

They were all preparing for war; men and women alike.

Gluttony knew that most of them probably laughed at him behind his back. On second thought scratch that. _All_ of the girls were nice to him, but the men probably laughed. But personally he didn't mind it. Gluttony didn't have a problem that he was bigger and considered dumber than most people. As long as he was helpful to Solaris, he was happy.

But right now he was worried.

Although no one would say this to her face, Solaris didn't always think straight when she was angry. Ever since Emma had been found, she'd been livid. Solaris had quickly called in all of her local allies and enforcers. No doubt she was planning some sort of bloody revenge against Shou Tucker. Already she'd had Ashley snatch one of the employees of the establishment that they had found Emma in. Solaris had him holed up in her office. Gluttony could think of one or two things that she was doing to that unfortunate man right now. He hadn't seen his sister for several hours, she'd shut herself in there with Juliet coming down to deliver any new orders.

'I need to talk to her.' Gluttony thought as he turned to look up at the glass that was the one way window of Solaris' office. Glancing back at the work that would be finished without him, he started shuffling towards the stairs. As he starting making his way up he heard Juliet's heels clacking as she came down quickly. He paused to stop as she came into view.

"What is it?" He squeaked out.

"She...she wants a pair of pliers." Juliet said, slightly exasperated. "Do we have one of those laying around?"

Gluttony nodded, but held out a large hand to prevent her from getting past.

"Is Solaris ok?" He asked.

"Well the guy's still alive so I'm not entirely sure." Juliet gave a weak smile. However, her smile turned into a frown. "Personally I think this is too rash. Starting a war like this, and with Tucker of all people!"

"Me too." Gluttony responded.

"Tucker would have Archer on his side and probably Yoki." Juliet said, her heels tapping nervously against the ground. "Cornello might back us, but he won't want another fight with Archer. If we paid MacDougal enough he'd rip some heads off, but Tucker's pretty rich too. Flynn Mugear and Kent Majhal give us some muscle. To be honest, Solaris isn't the best at making friends so a war is not going to be good for any of us."

"She has Edgar." Gluttony said after a moment.

Juliet's brow furrowed before realization entered her face. "Oh you mean Envy." Suddenly the brunettes' eyes widened. "That's it!"

"What is?" Gluttony asked, now confused.

Juliet now had a smile on her face. "As much as we don't want a war, there is only one other person who'd hate it more: Van Hohenheim. Perhaps if Solaris reaches out to Envy, he could talk to his father and Hohenheim would settle this without anyone having to die. Tucker won't ever come near one of us ever again if Hohenheim tells him not too."

"So we don't fight?" Gluttony asked. "But what about Emma?"

Juliet's face darkened. "Tucker deserves to burn in hell for what he did to Emma. And Solaris will never rest until that happens, unless we can convince her not to." A sigh escaped her lips as Julia sat down on the steps. "Listen Gluttony, I'm just a secretary. I have no experience with running a gang or the…politics behind it. But I love those girls down there. If anything happens to Solaris, then who else will protect them from sick bastards like Tucker? It's just…I'm too scared to say this to Solaris myself." Her head bowed at the last sentence.

Gluttony stood silent for several moments before placing a hand on Juliet's shoulder. The brunette jumped slightly at the unexpected contact and turned towards the large man.

"You remind me of my mother." Gluttony smiled brightly. "She was always kind to me."

Juliet's found herself smiling. "Thank you."

Gluttony nodded before glancing up the stairs. "I'll go talk to her." He mumbled.

"What?"

"I'll talk to her." Gluttony said with more confidence. "Solaris doesn't hurt me when she gets angry so I can tell her that we shouldn't fight. I'll try to get her to reach out to Edg-Envy."

Juliet's eyes widened in surprise. "Do you think you can do that?"

Gluttony chewed his lip and twiddled his large fingers nervously. "I'll try." He then starting walking up the stairs. As he reached the top, Gluttony heard Juliet call after him.

"Hey Gluttony, you're a lot smarter than people give you credit for."

A small smile formed on Gluttony's face as he waddled down the hallway towards Solaris' office. As he got closer he could hear muffled whimpers coming through the door. He didn't hesitate before opening it and entering the room. Upon seeing the scene before him, Gluttony couldn't help but sigh.

There was a tarp laid out on the floor with a chair in the middle of it. Bound to the chair was the Tucker guy they had snatched earlier. He had a ballgag in his mouth that muffled his sounds of agony. Most of his clothes were torn or bloodied. One side of his face looked to be missing some of its skin, and there were several throwing darts embedded in his chest. Across from the man, Solaris was sitting on her desk. She was adorned in a usual black dress, looking as dangerously beautiful as always. In her hand she held another sharpened dart. Suddenly she flicked it forward, sending the dart flying towards the man and hitting him square in the chest. The worn out and exhausted man suddenly came back to life as he jolted from the pain that the new projectile caused him. She was drumming her nails against the desk when she noticed her brother's presence.

"Yes Gluttony?" She sighed, her frown displaying that she wasn't in a particularly good mood.

Gluttony stood there silently for several moments, shifting back and forth. It wasn't that he was scared of his sister, no she'd never hurt him before and never would. It was just that well…Gluttony wasn't the most confident of people. He also was a bit distracted by the man tied to the chair. Emma had identified him as one of the men who'd hurt her so Gluttony wasn't giving him any sympathy. It just wasn't everyday he saw a guy with 6 throwing darts in his chest. He shook his head to focus himself and summoned all of his courage before looking Solaris in the eye.

"Solaris, I want to talk."

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Police Department:**

"So yeah, we'll uh...look into it."

"What!"

Paninya was glaring angrily at the officer behind the counter while Winry and Sheska just looked on shocked.

"Like I said, missy." The middle aged mustached man drawled while leaning over the counter. "Thanks for filing the report, we'll look into it at the soonest convenience"

"Look into it!" Paninya barked angrily. "Look at her!" She pointed at Winry whose injuries had only worsened. A multitude of forming bruises were now scattered over the right side of her face. "Those scumbags attacked her and you're just going to 'look into it." She said making air quotes with her fingers. Sheska was standing back, letting her angry girlfriend go on. Winry was deep in thought until she suddenly put her hand on Paninya's shoulder.

"It's ok." She said. "Let's just go."

"Ok?" Paninya asked incredulously. "This is bullsh-" she trailed off when she got a pointed glare from Winry. She huffed before glaring back at the rather bored looking officer.

"Fine."

Sheska quickly grabbed Paninya around the arm and followed Winry. As Winry turned she accidentally bumped into a man with a white coat.

"Sorry." She muttered.

They didn't speak as they walked towards the exit of the busy and bustling police headquarters. Once they were at the front doors, they stopped.

"Can you believe that bullshit?" Paninya asked angrily. "What kind of-"

"The cop's are working with them." Winry cut her off.

"What?" The two other woman looked at Winry.

Winry folded her arms as she glared angrily at the ground. "Now it all makes sense. Damn, I should have figured this out sooner."

"Figured what out?" Sheska asked. "How do you know the police are in cahoots with the thugs from your street?"

"Because I'm not the first one to have gone to the police before." Winry looked up. "There's this elderly couple that live right next to me named the Griffin's. The week after Bald showed up they called the police and reported them. The wall's aren't that thick so I could hear them doing it. Well two days later, Bald and his goons attacked their apartment and put them in the hospital." She said. "Mrs. Griffin got out first and told me that when she reported it, the officer that talked to them didn't ask any specific questions. 10 minutes ago, when I was 'answering their questions' they didn't even ask me what the people who attacked me looked like. So my best guess is that Bald has friends in this police department who turn a blind eye to what he's doing."

"How does some small time loser like Bald have friends in the police?" Paninya sled skeptically.

"Well, this is Central after all." Winry shrugged. "I'm sure every lowlife has at least one friend in the department.

"Maybe, they're an up-and-coming gang?" Sheska spoke up.

"What?" Paninya turned to her.

"I read books with things like this." Sheska said. "Maybe they're starting small, like in a neighborhood, but are creating friends in high places to grow with?"

"Sheska." Paninya drawled. "This isn't some damn novel of yours."

"Hey." Sheska said. "That's a perfectly reasonable…"

Winry had walked away from her two bickering friends to be in the peace of her own thoughts.

'So what do I do now?' She thought to herself. 'There's no way that I'm going back to my apartment, not that Pan and Sheska would even let me. Bald's probably going to be watching it 24/7, just waiting for me to show up.' She glanced over her shoulder to look at her two friends who were still debating. "They'll want me to stay with them tonight. Is that safe? Shit!'

The police officer had asked all of them for their addresses while taking their statements.

'If Bald really does have friends in the police department, then he'll find out where Paninya and Sheska live.' Winry bit her lip in worry. 'Oh god, what did I get them into? Fuck!'

"Hello Miss? I'm sorry to bother you, but are you alright?"

Winry turned around and saw a man walking up to her with a pleasant smile on his face. She recognized him as the man she has bumped into. He was rather tall with short blond hair and green eyes. He was young but looked to be well older than her. Along with the white coat he wore black pants and a red scarf around his neck.

"Uh...hello." Winry said, looking him up and down. 'Is this guy some kind of pimp?'

"Hello." The man said again. "I was just wondering if you were ok. You look a little worse for wear."

"Yeah, I walked into a door repeatedly." Winry drawled. "But thanks for your concern." She took a small step away from the man. After her experience so far today she was weary of someone who she didn't know.

"Sorry, I should introduce myself." The man chuckled, apparently unaware of her nervousness. "My name is Melvin Voyager and I couldn't help but hear your predicament back there."

Winry frowned suspiciously. "What predicament?"

"Not having the cops on your side." Melvin clarified. "I've been in this city a long time and something I've learned is that the cops aren't the ones who can solve any problem."

"Then who is?" Winry asked, still slightly suspicious.

"The Hohenheims of course." Melvin answered. "I'm sure you've heard of them."

"A little bit." Winry sighed. Why was this the day of people asking her about the Hohenheim Family?

"Now you may not be the type of person who would do something like this." Melvin continued. "But if you go to them for help, they'll more than likely give you a hand."

'Are you fricken kidding me?' Winry thought, her eyes widening. "You're telling me I should go ask the Hohenheim's for help!? I already have enough problems with criminals."

"I heard your name in passing up there, what was it again?" Melvin asked.

Winry narrowed her eyes suspiciously. "Winry Rockbell." She said.

Melvin's eyes widened slightly. "Rockbell? Then they'll definitely want to help you out."

Winry's eyes widened and her mouth went dry. Her earlier thoughts about the connection between her parents and the crime family came crashing back. "W-what are you talking about?"

Melvin shrugged. "I might be mistaken though, but still I think you should try them out." He suddenly let out a little laugh. "I'm sorry. This is probably pretty bizarre. Some stranger coming up and recommending you get help from the most powerful crime family in the city."

"Well when you put it like that." Winry said, looking down at her feet then looking up. "How would I even go about asking them for help?"

"Umm." Melvin said thoughtfully. "You've heard of the Xerxes?" He asked her after a moment.

"Yeah." Winry answered. "It's the biggest casino in the city."

"Well you know who runs it right?" Melvin asked.

Winry nodded.

"I'd go there and ask for Edward Elric. You hear of hi-"

"Yes I've heard of him! Just get to the point!" Winry snapped.

Melvin looked surprised for a moment before chuckling and continuing. "So yeah, I'd try to talk to Edward. He's the one who'll fix whatever problem you have."

Winry stopped to think about this. 'It's not like I have many choices. Though I never really knew the Hohenheim's to be very generous.' She glanced over to see Sheska and Paninya looking over at her curiously. 'But I can't let anything happen to them.' She thought.

Winry gave them a reassuring smile and looked back at Melvin.

"How would I even talk to Elric?" She asked. "I doubt he's going to be holding an open house or anything."

Melvin deflated a little. "Oh yeah, you're right. Finding Elric's going to be the hard part. If it helps, you can see his office from the main floor. It has these big black windows, you can't miss it."

"What am I supposed to do?" Winry asked with a slight deadpan. "Climb the walls and cut through the glass?"

"No that would probably get you thrown out on the spot or possibly shot." Melvin said. "I've met with his brother Alphonse in that room once. I was in a situation similar to yours and they helped me out. To get there you have to go up the stairs behind the giant monkey statue."

"Monkey statue?" Winry deadpanned.

"There's an Arabian theme." Melvin shrugged. "Anyway, go all the way to the top and take a right until you get to the end of the hallway and that's the office."

"It's really that easy?" Winry asked skeptically, her brow furrowing.

"Well." Melvin said a bit sheepishly. "I had to make an appointment two weeks in advance."

"Did they help you with whatever your problem was?" Winry folded her arms.

"They did indeed." Melvin answered.

Winry let out a sigh. She should have known this was going nowhere. "What am I supposed to do? Just sneak in there?"

"Probably." Melvin shrugged.

"Are you insane?" Winry took a step back. "They'll kill me or something."

"The worst they'd do is question you and then toss you out." Melvin said reassuringly. "Look I'm not telling you to do any of this, but if you think you're that desperate enough."

Winry furrowed her brow. Was she desperate enough?

Hell yeah she was.

"Um, thanks Melvin." Winry said. "I'll consider your suggestion."

"It's all good. I'm just sorry if I alarmed you in any way." He said with a smile as he started to walk pass her to the door. "It was nice meeting you Miss Rockbell."

"You too...I guess." Winry said as he walked out. She watched him step outside and walk away on the sidewalk with a frown on her face. Now that she recalled, Voyager had been in the precinct before they'd arrived but Paninya had pushed past him as she marched to the desk. What Winry didn't know was it she could trust what he had said.

'What could he gain from sending me to the Hohenheim's?' She thought as she stared at the ground in front of her. 'But what are the odds I'd just randomly bump into someone who could point me in the right direction?' But she already knew the answer to that.

It's Central.

There are probably dozens of people in this city who would have suggested the same thing. If there's a problem in the kingdom, who better to go to for help than the king?

'Edward huh?" She thought. 'Guess I'm meeting the cute one."

"Who the heck was that, Winry?" Sheska asked as the couple walked up to her.

"Just some guy." She said. "Hey, this is going to sound weird. But would you mind driving me to the Xerxes?"

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

Melvin Voyager watched the car that Winry Rockbell was in drive away. He was pleased to see it going in the direction of the Xerxes. Reaching into his pocket, he pulled out his phone and hit the first contact on his list.

"This is Atlas." He said once the phone was connected. "It worked."

"Excellent."

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Who do you think Atlas is talking to?**

 **Yeah, Atlas from Star Of Milos is in this story. Correct me because I'm definitely wrong but this might the first time I think Atlas has ever appeared in an FMA fic. I'm sure there's one somewhere, but I can't recall ever reading any with him in them. Personally I think he's an underused villain. He'll be playing a pretty important role in this story.**

 **Looks like we might finally have some EdWin interaction next chapter. Can't wait. Sorry if you like Conquer of Shamballa, I just couldn't help myself. If you haven't caught on by now, I really don't like the 2003 FMA show.**

 **Btw, I hope you all enjoyed Paninya x Sheska.**

 **Please follow and review!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Hey guys, long time no see. Sorry for the wait, especially with how the last chapter ended. I'll really do my best to get the next chapters out as fast as I can.**

 **Aggie 12:** I'm glad you liked the chapter. Van is one of the more challenging characters to write for, but I starting to get him down. As for Winry's possible meeting with Ed/Al, you're about to see. I hope you like this chapter.

 **Yveltal45:** Thank you for another review. Sorry this one took so long. Hopefully the next few ones will be out faster. Everyone's been really looking forward to Ed and Winry's meeting. I hope it'll be worth the wait.

 **Joker Oak:** Brotherhood does a lot more then just shit on it. I try not to let my hatred of the 2003 version show too much, but I can't really help it some of the time. I like your guesses about who Atlas was talking to. Sorry, but you all are going to wait a few chapters to find out who it was.

 **Vhosek:** Always great to see another review from you. Love your input. For those who don't know who Bald is, he was a throw away villain from the 2003 show. He's the terrorist who hijacks the train that Ed and Al are on.

 **SleepinBeautyK:** How bad of writer do I have to be in order to misspell Mickey Mouses' name? Thanks for pointing that out because I would never have noticed it. Yes Al did mention that he had a meeting with Melvin Voyager (Atlas) in chapter 4. Don't worry, you'll eventually find out who Atlas is working for.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**.

 **Outside the Xerxes**

"Winry, are you sure this is the best idea?"

"What other choice do I really have, Pan? If Edward Hohenheim can actually help me then my not? Give me a reason why I shouldn't try."

"I can think of a thousand reasons why not. He's a gangster, a murderer! Do you think he'll just help you for free?" Paninya begged. "These types never just give handouts. You don't want to be in their debt."

"What else can I do besides running away?" Winry grounded, putting her hands on her hips stubbornly.

"Just run away!" Paninya said. Sheska nodded eagerly next to her.

"And leave the two of you at Bald's mercy?" Winry snapped. "No." She shook her head and looked across the street at the bright extravagant entrance to the Xerxes. "Besides, it wouldn't work."

When Winry saw confusion on Paninya and Sheska's faces she sighed. "Running won't work. Three weeks ago one of my neighbors tried to run. His name was Lewis. He fell behind on his payments and tried to get out of the city. He didn't tell anyone what he was doing, he just got in his car at midnight and drove off. The next morning I heard that the police fished his mutilated body out of the river." The anger in Winry's voice slowly vanished, giving way to the fear that was building up inside her.

"Shit Winry, why didn't you tell us it was that bad." Paninya muttered sadly.

"Even if I ran, they'll hunt me. You injured Bald in that alley, so he'll be pissed at you too. He has the police on his side." Winry looked at the ground, her bottom lip trembling. "You guys are all I have left. This is my problem and I dragged you into it. If going to Edward Elric for help might get us out of this, then I'll accept whatever consequences there are." Winry briefly stopped to gauge the disheartened looks on her friend's faces before cracking a sad smile. "Beside I think he might actually owe me one."

The two women in front of her went from looking distressed to staring at Winry like she had two heads. "How?" Sheska asked.

"My dad once saved Van Hohenheim's life. I saw my parents operating on him in our living room when I was little girl." She told them. "I think they might have actually been friends."

"Your father was friends with Van Hohenheim!" Pan's jaw dropped. Winry merely shrugged in response.

"Well it's better than nothing." Sheska shrugged too.

"I still don't like it " Paninya grumbled.

"Well too bad, I've made my decision." Winry folded her arms. She was tired after this really long day, but she had to see this through. "Listen guys, I can't thank you enough for saving me back there. But I can't just run. I've already put your lives at risk. Going to Elric might just save all of our asses, so at least let me check this option out. If I don't, then I'm a dead woman who can figure something else out."

Paninya and Sheska stared at her for a few moments before both of them sighed. "I don't know how you're keeping so calm." Sheska shook her head. "But you do what you think is best Winry."

Winry smiled and lightly punched Sheska on the shoulder before turning to a frowning Paninya.

Paninya's frown dropped after a moment and her eyes turned towards the ground. "You're going in there no matter what I say." It was a statement not a question.

"Yep."

"Is there any way we could convince you to let us come in too?"

Winry gave a sad smile. "Sorry, but no. I've already introduced you to enough crazy people for one day. Thanks for the clothes Sheska."

Sheska gave a mix of a smile and a grimace as she stood there in the ripped jacket and grease stained jumpsuit. "Hey first impressions are important." She said. "Can't have you looking like you got hit by a car when you meet a mobster. You'd never get past the front desk."

"First impressions are important." Winry repeated in a mumble, now sporting Sheska's librarian outfit involving a light grey suit jacket and black pencil skirt. She still wore her black top underneath.

"So how do you plan on talking with Elric besides just barging in there and asking for him?" Paninya asked, still looking skeptical.

"Don't worry about that." Winry said before glancing around at the empty sidewalk. "You two should head home, or at least some place safe. I'll...uh call you when I have news."

Winry could still see some anger on Paninya's face, but mostly it was concern. Sheska was shifting her weight from one foot to the other. Neither of them didn't really know what to say. Not wanting to make this situation any more uncomfortable, Winry mumbled a goodbye and started crossing the street. She didn't look back, instead keeping her eyes on the large golden building in front of her. It wasn't until she passed through the gilded archway that she let herself admit it.

She had no plan whatsoever for what she was going to say to Elric if she met him.

This meant she was probably screwed. Even if she somehow found a way to speak to Elric; there was no telling if he would even help her. She didn't know a whole lot about Edward Elric. Winry knew that he killed people; everyone knew that. There were also tales of him being a womanizer. But she'd also heard rumors of him performing small acts of kindness. One of her elderly clients who liked to brag once went on about how Edward Elric had offered her his umbrella during a rainstorm. Hell, a tabloid newspaper once claimed that he'd been driving down a street when he saw children trying to get their cat out of a tree. The gossip page then said that Elric got out of his car, climbed the tree, and brought the cat down. That seemed a little far fetched. Other rumors included giving $100 to a homeless person, helping a family whose car had broken down, etc.

Most of it was probably fake. The tabloids might have just wanted to make a good impression with the Hohenheims. Yet some of it could also be true. Even if they were though, it didn't mean that he'd help her. It was proof however, that maybe there was more to Edward Elric than meets the eye. Winry certainly hoped so.

'How do you even ask a gangster for a favor?' Winry had seen stuff like this in tv and in books where people would approach a mob boss for help. But those fictional events rarely ended well for the parties involved. This knowledge only further eroded Winry's ever diminishing hope that she would live to see the next morning.

Winry did her best to keep her gut wrenching nervousness contained as she looked around the vast and bustling casino. From where she stood by the front entrance, Winry could see most of the Xerxes' main floor. The building itself was Arabian themed with tall intricately carved pillars spread throughout. The lengths of the pillers had vines and flowers on them, as well as marble figures surrounding the top. Each one seemed to be enacting a different scene from some type of ancient story. There were fabrics of many different colors hanging from the ceiling and meticulously crafted arches separated the main floor to other ones. The floor was alive with machines buzzing and the ambient sounds of dozens of voices. Rich looking patrons with fancy suits and stylish dresses crowded the joint. The lighting and exotic music only added to the whole theme of it.

"This place is fucking huge." Winry muttered to herself as she looked around. "Where do I even begin?" A laughing couple walked past her, causing Winry to pull her hair over the bruises on her face.

She started walking around, looking for anything to point her in the right direction. Several security guards were stationed around the floor, but none of them seemed to be paying any attention to her. Suddenly Winry remembered what Melvin Voyager had told her outside the police station.

" _You can see his office from the main floor. It has these big black windows, you can't miss it."_

Looking up, she quickly saw very large windows looming over the room. They were on the the wall on the complete other side of the floor from her. From their height, Winry guessed that the office was about three stories above her.

" _To get there you have to go up the stairs behind the giant monkey statue."_

'Great, now where's that monkey?'

Winry made her way over carefully, stepping around excited patrons and bright machines. As she neared the end of the room Winry saw the monkey. It was a large skinny, rather cartoonish statue that was wearing a purple vest and a red fez. Winry didn't bother to find out what purpose this stupid thing served and instead glanced behind it. There was a door that looked like it could lead to the staircase that Melvin had mentioned. Unfortunately, there was a lock next to it with a keypad.

'Of course there's a fucking lock! Just great, my grand plan foiled by mankind's simplest defense.' She thought bitterly. 'Now what?' Winry glanced around her and saw several Casino employees and staff. 'Well, I could corner one of them and beat the code out of them. I might be able to type one number in before security starts kicking my ass.' Winry sighed as she leaned against the nearby wall. Suddenly she arched an eyebrow and looked back at the door.

'You know...eventually someone has to open that door.' Winry thought as she flattened herself against the wall; trying to be as inconspicuous as possible. There was a large foreign looking plant next to her which somewhat acted as a shield. 'Even if I get caught, security will probably want to question me. Perhaps Elric himself will be there. Hell, even going to jail will keep me away from Bald.' Winry exhaled irritably and banged her head against the wall before going back to watching the door.

Her stakeout didn't last very long as a blond haired man started walking in her direction. For half a second Winry thought he was either Edward or Alphonse, but deflated when she saw the man had dark blue eyes instead of gold. He was tall and wore a black business suit, but he wasn't a Hohenheim. Fortunately for Winry, he was talking into a cell phone and didn't even notice her.

"For the last time I…" The not-Elric suddenly stopped in front of the locked door and groaned in frustration. "Can this wait until later? I'm busy, Fletcher." With a sigh, he ended his call and shoved the phone into his pocket. Rubbing a hand over his face, the man turned towards the the keypad. From her position, Winry had a perfect view of his moving fingers as he punched in the code.

31011.

Winry was so focused on the pad that she nearly jumped when the door made a loud clicking sound. A small green light flashed on the keypad before the blonde man pulled the door opened and entered.

Winry stood there stunned. 'Did that really just happen?...Is this really going to be that fucking easy?'

Hesitantly she stepped out from around the large plant and approached the door. Winry came to a stop in front of it, her heart rate increasing by the second. If there was ever a chance to back out, this was it. Once she opened this door, there was no going back. There was a security camera aimed right at her so they would know. But what else could she do? Seeking help was the only reason she'd come here. But getting help wasn't the only reason she'd come here. For years Winry had pondered the mysterious relationship between her parents and the king of Central. Perhaps today was the day she finally got answers. But before she could start unmasking family secrets, Winry had to secure the safety of both her friends and herself.

'If I stand here for too long people might get suspicious.' Winry sighed before putting her finger on the keypad. "Fuck it."

3...1...0...1...1

The door clicked open and Winry quickly darted inside.

The bustling sounds of the casino were muffled as the door closed behind her. Winry let out a sigh of relief before glancing around her. She stood in a rather plain stairwell; fortunately there was no sign of the blond man. Moving cautiously, Winry began to climb the stairs. Every step felt like it could be her last. 'Ok, ok; I can do this. I've made it passed the door; now I just need to find the office...and hopefully not get murdered.' Winry gulped as she remembered Melvin's last instructions.

" _Go all the way to the top and take a right until you get to the end of the hallway and that's the office."_

Keeping an eye out for the not-Elric guy, she made her way into the hallway. Thankfully there wasn't anyone in the hallway at the moment, but she could hear people's voices in the adjacent rooms. She looked down the hallway and saw a door at the end of it.

'There it is.' She thought.

Winry practically ran down the hallway, wanting to get out of sight before any creep popped out and shot her or something. Thankfully, she made it to the end of the long hall without anyone seeing her. Painted on the glass of the door in bold letters was the name Hohenheim.

'This is it.' Winry thought. Her nerves returning with a vengeance now that she stood just outside the room of the man she was trying to find. She wondered if she should knock before going in.

'Will Elric even listen to a word I have to say?' Winry thought. 'Or will he just throw me out?' She swallowed and put her hand on the door knob.

'Only one way to find out.' She thought before turning the knob and opening the door.

There was no one there.

Winry stared in surprise as she took in the large and unpopulated office.

'Shit.' She thought. 'He's not even here.'

Suddenly Winry could hear the sound of one of the doors opening behind her and she quickly shut the door of the office sealing herself in. Once Winry was sure that she hadn't been spotted, she stepped back from the door. 'Well I guess I'm stuck here for now.' Winry thought miserably before turning to further examine the office. It was large and richly furnished. She was surprised to see that there was only one desk.

'I thought the two younger brothers owned this place together.' Winry thought as she walked up to the desk. 'I guess they just operate using the same desk.'

The muffled sounds of the casino could be heard through the glass windows, causing her to look in their direction.

'Thank god the shades are drawn.' She lamented. This moment of reflection allowed her to fully think about what she had done.

She had snuck passed the guards and was now trespassing in the office of an infamous gangster. And all on the advice of a man she didn't even know.

"God I'm a damn idiot."

Winry quickly moved towards the door.

'Just get out and….think of something else.' She thought as she buttoned up her jacket before reaching for the door. Before her hand could touch it, however, it already turned. Winry took a step back as the door opened to reveal the shape of a tall man. Winry gasped as his golden eyes landed on her…wait golden eyes? In her shocked state Winry also observed that the tall - and very handsome - man also had golden hair.

Edward Elric.

He paused in his movements upon seeing her. His golden eyes looking her up and down. In those piercing orbs she saw initial surprise and curiosity be replaced by slight amusement. Winry felt her mouth open and close several times, but no sound came out. She could only assume that she currently looked like a deer staring at an oncoming train.

"Well hello there." His mouth morphed into a grin; revealing two rows of perfectly white teeth. "Who might you be?" He closed the door with his left hand and stepped fully into the room. Winry couldn't help but look him up and down as well.

He was wearing a black dress shirt along with a silver sports coat. The top two buttons of the dress shirt were unbuttoned, showing off subtle hints of a muscled chest. He had broad shoulders with strong looking arms. On his right wrist was a gold watch, on his left hand was a ring. He wore black pants and shiny dress shoes.

Earlier when Winry had said to Pan and Sheska that Edward was the most attractive of the brothers, turns out she was right.

Realizing that she was staring, Winry shook her head to clear her muddled brain. She looked back up at his face to see Elric still smirking at her.

"You're not an employee of this establishment." Elric said as he slowly walked towards her. "You wouldn't be here for a job interview would you?"

"N-No." Winry stuttered out as she stepped back.

"Well then." Elric nodded with a knowing look in his eyes. "I assume you're here for a reason." He motioned towards the chair in front of his desk. "Care to take a seat?"

"I'm sorry." Winry said. "It was a mistake to come here, I'll-"

"No bother." Elric said, sitting down behind his desk. He continued to smirk while his eyes stared at her with a glint of scrutiny. "Sit." He ordered. The way he spoke left no room for argument.

'What have I gotten myself into?' Winry thought as she sat down automatically. To say she was nervous was an understatement; she was alone in a room with a mobster whose infamous reputation she was well familiar with.

"No need to look so nervous." Elric suddenly said, opening his arms in a welcoming manner. "I promise not to bite...as long as you don't." She couldn't tell if he was joking.

Winry gulped but put on a brave face. She might as well try to get what she came for. As she opened her mouth, he suddenly spoke again.

"Where are my manners? Can I offer you a drink?" Elric motioned to several very expensive looking bottles of wine.

For a second, Winry chewed her lip nervously. "Sorry, but no thank you. Now I came here bec-"

"What's your name?" Elric cut her off casually.

Winry blinked in surprise and couldn't help but frown slightly at his rudeness.

Elric let out a chuckle. "I'm sure you're just bursting to explain your reasons for being here. But before that, I insist that you tell me your name." He leaned forward slightly in his chair with what could only be described as a shit eating grin on face.

'Smug bastard.'

Winry let out a breath. How would he react to learning her name? Would he even have a reaction? She knew nothing about her father's true relationship with Van Hohenheim so she had no idea what the name 'Rockbell' meant to the man in front of her.

"My name is Winry." She said, her voice much calmer. "Winry Rockbell."

"Rockbell?" She could see his forehead crinkle slightly as he repeated her name. It didn't last long, as he was once again flashing her that smirk. She was beginning to find it pretty annoying.

"So...Winry." Her name rolled of his tongue in a way that caused her to shift uncomfortably. Elric leaned back in his chair. "What can I do for you?"

"I...need help." Winry said.

Elric raised an eyebrow. "Care to elaborate?" He drawled.

Winry frowned again, her eyes narrowed. "I live on Farragut Street and a few weeks ago a gang moved in. I don't think they work for anyone big, or anything like that. They're set up in a rentable apartment above a flower shop on the street. Every week they go to all the residences and take money from the people who live there. They say it's for our protection, but it's nothing short of extortion. Every week they ask for more and more money. This week I've fallen behind and well...they don't like that."

Elric, who so sar had been silent during her speech, spoke up. "This isn't something Central's finest could handle?"

Winry shook her head bitterly. "They were fucking useless." She said angrily before softening her voice. "Someone at the precinct said that you could help me."

"Someone at the precinct?" He raised an eyebrow. Elric's face was unreadable as he considered her words.

"Why should I?" He asked finally.

Winry now stared at him with wide eyes.

"What?" She asked.

"Why should I help you?" He said almost sounding bored.

Winry wasn't exactly sure how to respond to this. Because she had asked? Because some weird guy at a police station told her to do this? Because her father and his father had known each other? She decided to try to plead to his human side, if he even had one.

"I can't keep paying what these guys want." She said. "I'm only a assistant mechanic at an Automail shop in-"

"Don't care." He cut her off.

Winry felt anger fuel inside of her.

"They're just a bunch of punks. There's only about 10 of them. They wouldn't be any trouble-"

"If they're so small then why should I even bother my time with them?" He cut her off again. "I've got more important things to deal with then scaring off a bunch of schoolyard bullies. I have a business to run and a life to live. Besides lady, I'm not a fucking charity."

That was it; no holding back. Mount Winry was erupting.

"Well if you don't care then why are you wasting my time?" She shouted; jumping to her feet. "I came here because I was told that you could help me. I thought that maybe there was the slightest chance that you weren't just the violent thug that everyone says you are!" Winry was suddenly standing over him. "I thought that there was more to you then just that. But perhaps I overestimated you. I guess you're nothing more than a common criminal."

Elric didn't react angrily and instead raised an intrigued eyebrow at her outburst. Winry glared at him angrily for a few moments before realization kicked in and she sat back.

"Please. I don't have anywhere else to go." She said much quieter. "They know where my friends live and I can't put them in danger...and I can't go back to that street. These guys are dangerous. If they catch me…" Winry swallowed before continuing. "I'm not the only one who's falling behind. There's families with children. Elderly on fixed incomes. They've already killed someone. If you don't care what happens to me, then at least think about them."

She looked away as she anxiously brushed some hair behind her ear. When she looked back at him she saw that his eyes seemed to be focused on the side of her face. Winry brought her hand up and her eyes widened slightly when she realized he was staring at the bruises. She let out a quiet eep and quickly tried to hide them with her hair.

However Elric's hand shot out and grabbed her wrist, preventing her from doing so. Winry gasped in surprise. His grip was strong. No doubt, he could snap her arm like a twig if he wanted to. But instead Elric gently pulled her hand down, exposing her injuries to his gaze. And boy, what a gaze it was. When his eyes had first fallen on her, Winry had found herself unable to move or even think clearly. That was several minutes ago. Now his golden stare left her feeling exposed, like this man could see every detail; know every secret from just looking at her. For some strange reason, it wasn't an entirely unpleasant sensation.

"They did that? The men from your street?" Elric asked, now surprisingly soft compared to his dismissive tone from earlier. His powerful grip released her and he sat back; his penetrating gaze was still unrelenting.

"Yeah." Winry mumbled out. "They cornered me outside my work earlier today to get me to pay up. When I didn't have anything they got some other ideas of how I could pay. I…I barely got away." Winry shuddered slightly as she said the last words. She was sure that he noticed.

His previously emotionless eyes now held something which Winry couldn't quite place. "The police looked at your face and still didn't do anything?" Elric asked with a small frown on his face.

"No." Winry shook her head. "I think that the gang has some friends in that particular precinct."

Elric now looked at her with a genuine look of consideration on his face. His eyes didn't hold any previous boredom or irritation; quite the opposite in fact. His hand came up to brush at the slight stubble on his chin before he cleared his throat.

"So do you know the names of these men?" He asked.

Winry chewed on her lower lip as she thought. "I only know the name of their leader. His name is Bald; he's tall, has black hair in a ponytail, and has...an eyepatch."

"An eyepatch, huh?" Elric sounded amused before his face turned more serious. "Spend the night here at the hotel." He said almost soothingly. "And when you go home tomorrow morning you're problem will have been taken care of."

Winry's eyes widened in surprise. "What?"

Elric sighed. "You said you couldn't return to your apartment, so stay here at the hotel." He repeated more slowly as if talking to a child. Winry felt her eyebrow twitch in irritation at the return of his condescending tone. However, she kept her mouth shut. Elric slid a drawer open and took out several poker chips. He placed the chips on the desk in front of her.

"That should cover a night here as well as breakfast tomorrow morning." Elric said. "Personally, I'd recommend the Quiche. It's delicious." He then paused for a moment before placing a few more chips on the stack. "You also should have someone look at those bruises. There is actually a doctor who works here."

Winry was, well, speechless. She was just about to give up hope when suddenly Elric pulled a fast one and decided to help her after all. Maybe he wasn't as bad as she initially thought. Maybe he-

"This isn't for free." He said suddenly.

'Huh?" She asked, once again caught off guard.

"I'm really starting to wonder as to the extent of your vocabulary." Elric mused aloud.

"Shut up." Winry growled, not caring who he was anymore. "What do you mean this isn't for free?" Her eyes narrowed into slits.

Elric seemed unperturbed by her tone. "There's going to be a price."

"But I already told you that I don't have any money." Winry fired back.

"Who said anything about money? My greedy family has enough of that to last a lifetime." Elric grinned. "I find favors to be of more value."

"Favors?" Winry couldn't help but pale a little.

"I help you out so you'll help me out. No need to look so scared." Elric said as he leaned back into his chair. "I'm not the type of guy who'd ask you to do something illegal, degrading, or dangerous. But if I do this for you, you owe me a favor that I can cash in anytime, anywhere. It can be anything I want within reasonable limits. Would you agree to that?"

Winry bit her lip as she considered this. Wasn't getting those thugs out of her street what she came here for? If this was the price for it, then she had no choice. He did say he wouldn't make her do anything illegal or degrading. One simple favor would save her, her friends, and all the other people on that street a lot of trouble.

"Okay." She said.

"Okay...what?" Elric drawled. "We have to be specific when we make arrangements such as this."

Winry glared at him. "Okay, I agree."

Elric only continued to smirk, which made her irritation only increase. What an unpleasant person to deal with.

"Well then Ms. Rockbell." Elric said standing up. "I believe that concludes our business." He came around the desk, scooping up the chips as he came to her. Winry stood up as well, though she was eyeing him cautiously. Elric came to a stop in front of her and grabbed her hand. Before she could protest, he dumped the chips in her hand and let go. As this happened the door behind them opened.

"Have a good night Ms. Rockbell." Elric said, his smirk replaced by a seemingly pleasant smile. "Noah here will show you where to cash these in."

And like that, he turned to go sit back at his desk. Winry stood there for a moment before speaking up.

"Thank you."

Elric paused in his movements. He looked over his shoulder at her. "Don't thank me. And don't forget that favor."

Winry's small smile dropped to a frown, yet she dared herself to say something else.

"Uh...hey. My name, Rockbell. Does it mean anything to you?" She asked him.

He stared back at her with an unreadable expression on his face. "Not that I can recall. Should it?" Elric responded with a drawl.

Winry's frown deepened and she risked a scowl at him; he merely smirked in response. Winry didn't say anything else as she turned around to follow a brown haired girl in a really short skirt out into the hallway. She could feel his piercing eyes watching her until she was out of sight. Winry let out a sigh of relief as some of the tension left her body. 'That actually went better than I could have hoped for. He was...different then I had expected.'

As she followed the casino employee she thought about her mixed feelings towards Edward Elric. On one hand, he seemed like a rude, arrogant, and smug bastard; yet on the other hand, he'd agreed to help her. He honestly had no reason to, yet he did anyway. He'd acted immature, yet also carried himself in an almost regal manner.

The golden haired mobster would be on her mind and in her thoughts for the rest of the night.

 **OoO**

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 **OoO**

Ed stared at the young woman's back as she followed Noah out the door.

Well that'd been an interesting encounter.

'Winry Rockbell?' Ed thought as he leaned back in his chair. 'Rockbell, why does that name sound kind of familiar?'

Ed shook his head as he looked up at the ceiling. She was cute, he'd admit. Particularly when he'd gotten her angry.

"What a spitfire." Ed chuckled. It wasn't often that someone, especially a woman, talked to him like that. One of the favorite aspects of Ed's life was the fear which his position instilled in people. He wasn't one of those psychos who reveled in the misery of others; but their trepidation could be very amusing.

People of all social status would talk to him in a quiet and polite fashion, like they were scared of offending him. But she hadn't done that. Ms. Rockwell hadn't treated him like a live grenade, which was oddly refreshing. Her anger and refusal to back down had been kind of fun as well. Granted, being in the private confines of his office allowed him to tolerate a conversation like that. Had it been in public, he wouldn't have tolerated it. After all, he had a reputation to uphold.

So…Farragut Street?

Ed thought, 'Where is that again?...oh yeah, south side high road district.'

Ed leaned forward and picked up the phone. In the other hand he held up a small notebook of relevant contacts. Finding the number he was looking for he calmly pushed the buttons. Edward leaned back as he waited for it to connect. While he listened to the dialing sound Ed's thoughts drifted back towards the young woman who had just left his office.

'Why is her name so god damn familiar? Have we met before? No, I doubt I'd forget someone like her.' She was pretty, not a bombshell; but very attractive nonetheless. Her clothes were not flashy at all, yet they hinted at a supple and rather curvy figure beneath. Her azure eyes and shoulder length blond hair had complimented her face perfectly. Her face had a softness to it, but also a maturity that signaled she wasn't a pushover. Apart from Ms. Rockbell's looks, her determination and feistiness were very intriguing. It had taken guts to break into his office like that. The more Ed thought about that, the more he found himself slowly starting to respect her.

Then he thought about the bruises on her face. She'd done a good job at hiding them when she first came in, but once he saw them he couldn't look away. The bruises had earned his attention more than the words she had spoken. Despite the details of Ed's line of work, hitting a woman was one of the lines that he drew.

The person on the other end answered.

"Hello, this is Lieutenant Edison."

"Hey Eddy, how's the force treating you?" Ed leaned back into his chair.

"Mr. Elric!...How can I be of assistance?"

Ed chuckled. "Right to the point, that's what I like about you Edison. Anyway, a very lovely young lady came to me saying that a small gang has taken root in her neighborhood on Farragut Street and are extorting its fine tax paying residents. Their leader is man named Bald; tall, black hair, late 30's I'm guessing, has an eyepatch. I'd like for you to arrest this man and as many of his minions as you can find. Does that sound like something Central's finest can help me with?"

There was a brief pause before Edison spoke. "I believe so, I'll put a call out for this Bald fellow. I have confidence that we'll find this man soon. Would you prefer injured or non injured?"

Ed's smile dipped slightly as he thought about the bruises on Winry Rockbell's face. "Give him something to think about; but try not to kill him."

"As you wish, Mr. Elric."

"Excellent." Ed's smile returned. "And if it's all possible, try to have this done before tomorrow morning. I promised the young lady that it'd be done by then and I always like to keep my word." With that Ed hung up. But as he moved to put the phone down, a sudden inclination entered his head. Grinning maliciously to himself, Ed punched another number into the phone. After listening to the dial for a few moments the call was answered. This time by a much more irritated and rather high pitched voice.

"Elric?"

"Hello Yoki." Ed grinned.

"What do you want?" The man snapped on the other side of the line. Sounds like Ed had called at a bad time; not that he cared.

"I was feeling generous today, so I decided to let you in a little secret." Ed said. "Apparently some thugs have commandeered a neighborhood in your territory and are now sucking it dry."

"What are you talking about?" The irritation in his voice was now replaced with confusion.

"It would appear that a group of thugs are making a large profit by strong arming a bunch of innocent people. All from right under your nose. I thought the good people in your district were supposed to be paying you for protection." Ed grinned into phone.

"What?" The voice cracked on the other side. "Impossible! I would have kno-"

"You don't know, dipshit. And that's the problem." Ed said. "Don't forget Yoki, we're the ones who let you keep your territory. The condition is that the people within said territory would be protected while you received a reasonable amount of payment from the local businesses. But if you can't keep your own streets in check how can we expect you to run your own business."

Ed could hear the man growl on the other side. "Who do you think you are? Your father?" Yoki scoffed. "It's with him that I deal with, not you. So I will not be threaten-"

"And what do you believe he'll think about this show of incompetence? The only reason I, and more importantly you, learned about this situation was from a very lovely civilian." Ed couldn't help the grin that formed on his face. "I've already taken care of this problem for you so don't worry. Make sure something like this never happens again. Now go back to your puppet shows."

With that, Ed hung up.

'Well that settles that.'

Yoki was a weak man. A coward who was sneaky enough, or simply lucky enough, to be where he was. Any amount of pressure on their part would have him scrambling to do anything. He wasn't a reliable associate, but he was a good means to an end.

Now that this business was done with, why did he come to the office again?

 **OoO**

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 **OoO**

 **They finally meet! It only took seven chapters.**

 **I know, definitely not love at first sight. But don't worry we'll start getting some Edwin fluff in later chapters. I hope you all like this scene, I put a lot of thought into how the two of them were going to meet.**

 **Please review and share your thoughts!**


	8. Chapter 8

**Hey guys, Mediafan here. Sorry for wait, I just finished my freshman year of college. Now that I'm out on break, I should be able to get chapters out faster.**

 **BabygirlMari:** Thanks! I actually wrote that first scene between Ed and Winry very early on. I had many different ideas for how they could meet, I'm glad I went with this one. I decided to not have it be love at first sight but I'm glad that you could pick on the initial attraction. Thats a good guess for what Ed's favor is going to be. But just to be clear, Ed still has all of his limbs...for now.

 **Incinerator1:** I'm glad you're liking it. I hope it keeps getting good.

 **SleepinBeautyK:** You'll see what happens when Ed brings her up. I can't promise choking though.

 **Vhosek:** It's always nice to see another review from you. Thanks for reading all of my stories up to this point. I'm glad that people liked the the first EdWin scene. As I said above, I didn't want to have it be love at first sight. Although both of them might be already attracted to the other, they both still have a long way to go. A few of you have been wondering what Atlas is up to, sorry but that's gonna remain secret for now.

 **Gaby:** Don't worry, more EdWin is on the way. It's going to be a bit of a slow burn though.

 **OoO**

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 **OoO**

 **Central town hall, DA's office, early morining:**

"So what do you think? Do we have a good case?" Mustang asked with only a hint of smugness. That hint, however, was enough to cause the woman in front of him to narrow her eyes.

Oliver Armstrong; the impenetrable wall of Central and its District Attorney.

Although there had been many lewd jokes about her nickname, it was well earned. Oliver was famous for being the most unrelenting and unbreakable lawyer in Central. She took no prisoners and took no bribes either; hence the nickname, 'impenetrable'.

Despite being a fellow civil servant, however, she also had a particular disdain for Police Captain Roy Mustang. Roy wasn't entirely sure why, maybe it was just their clashing personalities or the fact that he had drunkenly flirted with her several years earlier during a city gala.

"I have a _great_ case." Olivier said as she glanced down at the forms in front of her. "I must say, Detective Hawkeye did some exceptional police work with this case. It appears your chronic laziness hasn't rubbed off on her."

Roy had to bite his lip in order to not laugh at her comment about him _rubbing off_ on Riza. 'If only she knew.' The black haired man chuckled quietly to himself.

"While we don't have Yoki on the scene, we do have his thug being seen entering and leaving." Olivier said. "As long as you keep that witness alive we can connect the two."

Mustang glanced down at the formidable lawyer's desk. On it was a picture of Barry Yandell, Yoki's number one muscle man. He was the guy that their witness could place at the murder. Next to the photo were many more of Yandell and Yoki together. Mustang smirked triumphantly as he looked down at the small balding man with the pointed mustache.

"Van's not going to lend a hand to help someone like Yoki." Mustang said, glancing up at the blonde woman. "I think we've finally got him."

 **OoO**

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 **Outside the Xerxes, noon time:**

Winry looked back at the large neon letters that spelled out the word 'Xerxes'. They were no longer lit up like they had been the previous night; no doubt Elric wanted to save energy. As she stepped out from the building, Winry thought about what had happened last night.

Her meeting with Edward Elric was probably one of the strangest, surreal, and most tension filled moments of her entire life. She was certainly glad that she wasn't dead, or anything of that nature. All that remained for her to do was go back home and see if he pulled through with his promise.

 _And when you go home tomorrow morning you're problem will have been taken care of._

'Time to find out if his word is his bond.' Winry thought before turning around at the sound of a familiar car horn. Paninya's car quickly pulled up to the curb. Winry waved at her friend and walked up to the parked vehicle. Paninya pushed the door open and looked her up and down as she came in. Most likely checking for any new injuries.

"It's nice to see you're still in one piece." Paninya said. "So what happened?"

An hour earlier, Winry had called Paninya to pick her up and had only told her that it had gone well. Winry had woken up in the extraordinary comfortable bed of the Xerxes' hotel rooms. Still wearing the same clothes she had come there previous day. She would have called Paninya as soon as she woke up, but the temptation of free breakfast put the call on hold for a little bit. She'd gone down to the extravagant dining hall and had the Quiche just like Elric had recommended.

It was actually really good.

Now here she was, sitting in Paninya's car about to head back to her neighborhood.

"It was...interesting to say the least." Winry shrugged.

"So you saw Elric?"

"Yes."

"And he agreed to help?"

"He said he would." Winry looked back.

"When?"

"He told me that it would be done by the time I went home today." Winry sighed anxiously. "So I guess that everything's taken care of by now."

"So what? Are you just supposed to head home like nothing ever happened?" Paninya asked with frown.

"I guess so." Winry said with another shrug. "There's not much more we can do but go check it out."

Paninya paused for a moment. "Fine." She said, before reaching down into the glove compartment and pulling out a handgun. "but we're not going in empty handed."

Winry looked at the gun with wide eyes and her hands clenched into fists. She was also pretty sure that her face paled a little. To say she wasn't a fan of guns was the understatement of the fucking century. Eventually she looked into Paninya's serious eyes and nodded. Pan nodded back before starting the car.

"How's Sheska doing? Last night must've been stressful." Winry asked, trying to break the tense atmosphere and looked away from the dangerous weapon in her friend's lap.

"She was worried about you." Paninya offered. "We both were." She went back to focusing on the road, but after a few moments a look of curiosity formed on her face.

"Hey Winry…what was he like?"

The Hohenheims were the closest thing this city had to celebrities; especially Edward. There probably wasn't a single citizen in the city who didn't wonder about the mysterious crime family at least a few times a week.

Winry chewed her upper lip as she thought carefully. "Elric was…well I've never a man like him before."

Paninya's head whipped around to stare at her, which caused the car to swerve slightly. "Huh?"

Winry tried to shrug nonchalantly, but felt her cheeks heating up. Paninya stared at her incredulously before shaking her head. "Oh god, please don't tell me that you had sex with him?"

Winry's eyes widened. "N-no, I didn't mean…I just-he was…it's hard to explain." Her face must have been bright red. "I-I couldn't figure him out. At first he was a complete jackass. But when he saw my bruises, he was…different. After that he was more respectful." A slight shiver went through Winry as she remembered his golden eyes staring at her. They had felt like they could see into her very soul. Thankfully Paninya didn't notice.

Paninya glanced to the side to look at Winry. "Ok, so he's a complex criminal." Suddenly a thought popped into her head. "Oh shit, did you ask him about your parents?"

Winry frowned. "When he heard the name Rockbell, he did have some kind of a reaction. But when I asked him if the name meant anything to him; he responded by asking if it should."

"Well, that's not helpful in any way." Paninya commented as they kept driving. After several minutes of silence she decided to lighten the mood. "Since you've now met a Hohenheim, who is the most attractive?"

"Go to hell."

Fifteen minutes later, they were about a block away from Farragut street when Paninya stopped the car. After checking to see her if her gun was loaded, she turned to Winry. "Are you sure it's safe for you to go back there?"

Winry shifted in her seat. "Elric said that it would be."

"And you believe him? You're putting a lot of faith into a gangster, Winry." Paninya glanced ahead of them before turning back. "It's still not too late to turn around."

Despite her friend's concern, Winry found herself growing angry. "You always treat me like this."

"Huh?"

Winry fixed her with a steady look. "Pan, you treat me like a child. You are always acting like I can't make decisions for myself. And when I do make my own, you're always against them." Her face softened slightly. "Listen I know you're only trying to help, but this mother bear act is really starting to tick me off."

Paninya's mouth opened in shock, but she then closed it. For a moment the two of them stared at each other in silence. "Then what's your decision?" Pan asked in a slightly strained voice.

Winry looked ahead. "Keep driving. I trust Elric to keep his word."

"Fine."

Farragut street was surprisingly empty; which was either a good or a bad thing. Paninya pulled up in front of Winry's apartment building and began scanning the surrounding area. Winry herself also looked for any signs of Bald or his gang. Although she was acting confident for Pan, she was secretly terrified.

"I…I'll…" Winry started to say nervously. "I'll go in alone."

"Winry." Paninya said warningly, turning her entire body to face Winry. "I'm not going to let you do that."

"Pan, please." Winry pled, looking her friend in the eye. "If something goes wrong, I don't want you to get hurt. Think about Sheska."

The dark skinned woman tensed, but after a few moments she seemed to deflate. Looking into her friend's eyes, Paninya knew that Winry wasn't taking no for an answer. Winry had just scolded her for being too over protective, and yeah, she was kinda right. A defeated sigh left Paninya before she looked Winry dead in the eye.

"Alright, but only if you take this." She said, handing her blonde friend the handgun.

Winry paled almost instantly. "No!" Her eyes went wide as she pushed the weapon away. "How could you even suggest that?"

"Please Winry." Paninya begged.

"I can't!" She shook her head, trying to push the weapon further away from her. "You know I can't!"

"Please Winry." Paninya said. "Take it."

"No!" Winry protested.

"You told me to stop treating you like a child. So grow up and take the damn gun!" Paninya ordered as she once again held the gun out for Winry to take. It was a Glock. "It's registered to me so I wouldn't really get caught with it...do you know how to use something like this?" Paninya at least looked concerned.

"No." Winry shook her head. "You know that I don't!"

Paninya sighed and her eyes turned sympathetic, yet she still held the gun out. "It's relatively simple." She murmured. "I got it all ready, you'd just need to turn the safety off." She said, pointing to a button near the trigger. "After that, just point and shoot."

"Pan…" Winry said in a warning voice.

"Winry, the only way I'm letting you go in there by yourself is if you take this with you." Sometimes Winry forgot that Paninya had once been in the military. And then there were moments like this where she acted like a drill sergeant.

Winry hesitantly took the gun and held it in her hands. She hated the feeling of it. The weapon felt foreign and was heavier than she thought it would be. It also felt disturbingly similar to her automail tools. A sudden stab of guilt caused her to clench her eyes shut. Winry wasn't comfortable with this at all, but going in unarmed was probably suicidal.

"Winry…I'm so sorry, I can't imagine how difficult doing this must be. But you can't be afraid of guns forever. It's just a little machine, with small bits and pieces. Kinda like automail." Paninya tried to give her friend a reassuring smile.

"Shootings the easy part." Paninya followed up. "It's living with yourself after that's hard."

Winry gave no response so Pan kept talking.

"But if you see anyone coming at you, shoot them." Paninya said. "Because it's you or them. If you have to do it then at least you get to live."

"Thanks Paninya." Winry mumbled under her breath yet nodded anyway. "I…I'll try.

"Ok." Paninya nodded back. "I'm going to stay parked out here, until you call me saying everything's all clear. If I don't get a call in 5 minutes, I'm going up there."

"Yeah, yeah." Winry said a little too quickly. "I got it."

"If it's good, say 'All clear'. If not, say literally anything else." Paninya reviewed.

"Will do." Winry put the pistol into her purse; it didn't really fit, but was the best option. Not wanting to mince words, or cause an awkward pause, Winry quickly got out of the car. Suddenly the uncertainty grew within her as she was now out in the open. Had Elric really kept his word?

Winry bit her lip nervously; feeling the urge to run back into the car with Paninya. But she couldn't do that. 'I've given Edward Elric the benefit of the doubt before, I guess I'll do it again.'

Winry started walking towards the front door of her apartment building. Her pace was a lot slower then she would have liked, but she couldn't shake the caution. Winry unlocked the door and after a nervous breath she went inside.

The wood of the floor creaked obnoxiously as she stepped into the hallway. So far she didn't see anyone. Her hand was in her purse, holding the gun. It still felt unnatural to be holding it, yet at this point there was no going back. If someone did try to attack she could shoot through the purse and they wouldn't see it coming. She'd been looking for an excuse to get a new purse anyway. As Winry started to walk up the stairs, she heard a voice.

"Miss Rockbell?"

Winry nearly jumped out of her skin and just barely resisted pulling the trigger. Instead she turned around to see who had called. It was one of the other tenants of the building. A middle aged woman named Mrs. Gagney.

"Oh." She said, relaxing her white knuckle grip on the gun. "Good morning, Mrs. Gagney."

"You missed quite a show earlier." Mrs. Gagney laughed as she looked through her mailbox which was on the first floor. "Those pricks are finally gone!"

'Elric did pull through!' Winry tried not to smile too much. "Who's gone?" She said, playing dumb.

"That eye patched shitbag and his thugs." Mrs Gagmey said, still laughing. "They were waiting outside this building when a whole bunch of cops showed up and start putting the hurt on them."

"I wish I could have seen it." Winry said honestly. She would have especially loved to have seen the look on Bald's face.

"Well I won't be forgetting it anytime soon." Mrs. Gagmey moved towards the stairs where Winey was standing. "It's just reassuring to know that there's at least some justice in the world."

Winry gave her neighbor a smile as she passed and stood there on the stairs long after she had left.

It worked!

Winry wanted to jump in joy, but first she had to give Paninya a call. Reaching into her pocket, she quickly found her cell phone.

"All clear." Winry said into the phone after hitting the contact for her friend.

"Thank Christ." Paninya said. "Well, I guess I'll see you at work on Monday. If you don't want to keep a gun in your apartment, you can give it back to me then."

"Bye." Winry hung up the phone and headed up to her apartment with a certain bounce in her step. Not even having a gun in her purse could ruin the new good mood. Pulling her keys out of her pocket, Winry unlocked the door and entered. Her apartment wasn't the most spacious or glamorous of living spaces, but it served her well. The kitchen and bathroom worked fine, her living room and bedroom were satisfactory, and there was even an extra room for her to work on automail.

"Home sweet home." Winry sighed as she placed her purse on a nearby table. She walked through the kitchen and into the living room where she immediatly flopped down on the couch, kicking her shoes off in the process. Her clothes, well technically they were Sheska's, smelled but she would change later. Right now Winry felt truly relaxed for the first time in months. Bald and his thugs were gone. She didn't have to worry about them anymore and could finally move on with her life.

As Winry relaxed back into the soft cushions, her thoughts strayed towards a certain golden haired man.

'I can't believe he actually pulled through. I mean he did promise, but still.' Winry thought happily before remembering another promise. 'Oh yeah…I now owe him a favor…shit.'

Suddenly not feeling as relaxed as before, Winry pushed herself off the couch and headed towards her bedroom. Along the way she started stripping off Sheska's clothes. By the time Winry reached her room, she was clad in nothing but her underwear. The shades were down as always, so she didn't need to worry about any peeping toms.

As she strolled over to her bureau, Winry's thoughts remained on Edward Elric. 'So he prefers favors uh; what the hell does that mean? He saved my life and this favor is suppose to repay that. But what's worth another person's life?'

Winry chewed her lower lip as she opened one of her drawers and pulled out a pair of grey sweatpants. 'He's knows that I'm just a mechanic who's isn't in the best financial situation. So what could I possibly do to satisfy him?'

' _Well, there's a few…things you could do._ ' A voice whispered in the back of her head causing Winry to shiver as she shimmied into the sweat pants. 'No no, he said he wouldn't make me do anything like that. Or at least nothing degrading. But then again, his definition of degrading could be completely different from mine.' Winry then pulled a simple white t-shirt over her head.

'So far Elric's kept his word, even when he's had no reason to.' She thought while straightening out her clothes. 'If he said I'm not going to have to…like give him a blowjob or actually have sex, I have no reason to doubt him.' Winry walked back into the living room and turned on the tv. As she did this, the perverted voice in the back of her head returned.

' _But then again, would that necessarily be a bad thing?'_

Winry felt her face turn pink as a familiar warmth blossomed in her lower stomach. Despite the tense atmosphere of their meeting, Winry couldn't help but notice how sexy Edward Elric was. He had a tall muscular frame with strong, pointed features that had unfortunately lingered in her thoughts. When she had tried to sleep the previous night in the hotel, it wasn't nervousness or fear of Bald that had kept her up. Instead Winry had found herself thinking of Elric, particularly the way her skin had tingled where his fingers had touched her.

Winry had never been one of those girls who drooled over a guy. But hot damn was he an attractive man. An attractive, powerful, and very dangerous man.

 **OoO**

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 **OoO**

 **The Xerxes, later that day:**

"Oh, here she comes."

Russell let out a suffering sigh as the two Elric brothers laughed at his expense. Edward and him were seated while Alphonse stood behind them. They were in the security room watching the camera feeds from the previous night. Apparently Russell had unintentionally allowed a woman to trespass and gain access to Edward's office. It had been captured on film for all to see. At the moment the they were watching the feed of her standing behind the neon monkey waiting for him to show up.

"She's got determination." Alphonse said with a chuckle. "I'll give her that." The head of security, Pitt Renback, switched to the feed that showed the door.

"And here you come, Russell." Edward said, pointing towards the screen.

On it, Russell could be seen talking animatedly on the phone as he approached the door. Russell gave a groan as he watched himself punch in the numbers in full view of the spying woman. Pitt switched back to the woman who was intently watching him. Russell tried not to wince as the view switched back to him just in time to see him entering the door and it closing behind him. After a few minutes the woman slowly approached the keypad and started punching in the numbers. This set the Elric brothers into a whole new fit of laughter as Russell only glared at the screen.

"Russell...buddy." Ed chuckled. "What was that?"

"I didn't know I was being spied on." Russell snapped.

"Obviously." Al said.

"I have to say, Mr. Elric." Pitt said, turning his chair to look at his boss. "You're lucky she was only here to talk. If she'd wanted to, she could've gotten a hit on you as you entered the office."

"That's right, she could of." Ed said standing up. "So I'm at a bit of crossroad right now, boys." He looked between Russell and Pit. "Should I be angry at you Russell for letting her in? Or should I be angry at you Pitt for making it so damn easy for her to get in?" His demeanor was now serious.

Russell and Pit were silent for a moment before Pitt spoke up. "You should be mad at me, sir. Mr. Tringham's job is to oversee the operations of this Casino. I'm supposed to oversee this building's security. The reason she got in was a lack of sufficient measures. I'll offer my resignation if you want it."

"I don't." Ed said. "I probably should, but I don't. Just make sure this never happens again."

"Yes sir." Pitt nodded.

Ed gave Russell one last pointed look before he and Al moved out of the room.

"You know Ed, I'm quite surprised." Al commented as they began walking down the hallway.

"By what?"

"Why did you help her?" Al asked, his hands in his suit pockets. "You're not the most charitable of people. Yet you agreed to help that girl. It seemed a bit out of character for you."

"I guess that I felt like being generous." Ed shrugged nonchalantly.

"Especially to a pretty face like her's?" Al asked with a raised eyebrow.

"It didn't hurt." Ed chuckled. The chuckle quickly died when he remembered the ugly bruises that had blackened her pale skin. Even now, Ed felt anger towards the men who had attacked her. Although he didn't know Winry, no man should ever hurt an innocent woman like that. Suddenly Ed realized that he'd been silent for almost two minutes and quickly stammered out. "I don't know, I found her…intriguing."

"Intriguing?" Al arched his eyebrow again.

Ed shrugged, a smirk on his face. "She may have looked nervous on the screen, but once she gets going she's quite the firecracker."

"Is that so?" Al asked. "Sounds like this woman left quite an impression on you."

"She was certainly more interesting than the usual types. She wasn't afraid to stand up to me." Ed grinned before frowning. "Oh yeah, by the way. Does the name Rockbell mean anything to you?"

Al looked to be in thought for a few seconds. "No, I don't think so." He said. "Should it?"

"That was the girl's name." Ed said. "Winry Rockbell. Before she left, she asked me if it meant anything to me."

"Did it?"

"Maybe." Ed answered. "I swear I've heard it before. Envy told me the same thing."

"You asked Envy?" Al deadpanned.

"He's been around." Ed shrugged again. "Maybe he would know."

"Now that you mention it." Al brought a hand up to his chin. "There was a doctor at Central Hospital named Rockbell."

"A doctor?"

"Yeah." Al answered. "He was the chief of surgery a while back, I think."

"Does he still work there?" Ed asked, curiously.

"No, as I said, there _was_ a doctor. I'm not sure what happened to him though." Al informed his brother.

"Maybe that's where I've heard it before." Ed murmured with a thoughtful look in his eyes.

Al's brow furrowed as he watched the emotions on his brother's face. To say he was surprised by Ed's actions were an understatement. While Edward wasn't a cold hearted man, he'd never really gone out of his way to help someone like this before. And a normal citizen at that. 'I think brother's a little more than intrigued by Ms. Rockbell. This should be interesting.' He thought before clapping Ed on the shoulder.

"Well, I'm sure you'll figure it out eventually. Don't you have a dinner to get to by the way?" Al said.

"In an hour or so." Ed answered. "I still gotta check the numbers from yesterday."

"Don't forget, dad gave you that job to take care of that Good Samaritan." Al said.

"I'll handle it tomorrow." Ed said.

"While you're at dinner, maybe you should ask Izumi about the name Rockbell." Al suggested. "She'd probably know."

"I will." Ed said as he walked back to his office. "See you around Al."

 **OoO**

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 **Curtis residence and Butcher shop, that night:**

"Sig, these steaks are perfection as always." Ed proclaimed as he took another bite.

His uncle Sig responded with an affirmative grunt as he carried the plates which looked minuscule in his large hands. The enormous middle aged man often reminded him of Scar. The quiet, yet scary type.

Like the majority of the people whom Ed knew, Sig had once worked for his father. Those days were long gone as Sig and Van had mutually agreed in Sig's semi-retirement after his marriage to Izumi. Now Sig ran a butcher shop called Curtis' Meat. Occasionally he'd lend his services to his brother-in-law, but he was a fan of the quiet life.

"Oh come on honey, no need to be so humble." Izumi smiled as she cut her own steak. "Edward's not one to give compliments often." She then chuckled at the small glare Ed gave her.

"I'm just teasing you Ed." Izumi smiled playfully.

Ed shook his head, but found himself smiling nonetheless. Ever since his mother had died and his father became more distant; Izumi had sort of taken on both roles. Despite her sometimes cold and downright psychotically scary behavior, Izumi Curtis could be very be kind and sweet. Nowhere was this softer version of his intimidating Aunt more seen than when she was with her husband Sig.

"So Edward, how's business doing at the Xerxes? I heard you recently did some renovations to the place." Izumi asked.

"Nothing too fancy. Al and Russell wanted to add more to the Arabic decor." Ed informed her. "They're trying to pick which Genie statue they like the most. Personally I think all of them look kinda racist."

Izumi nodded as Sig sat back down at the table. A certain twinkle of curiosity entered her eyes as she asked her next question. "I also heard you sent Edison and several cops after a small gang on Farragut street." Her right eyebrow was arched.

"Did Yoki file a complaint?" Ed drawled as he took a sip from his wine glass.

"More or less." Izumi grumbled, she wasn't very fond of Yoki ether. "So what was that about anyway?"

Ed took another sip of wine and placed the glass down. Now was the time. "Does the name Rockbell mean anything to you?"

Even though he was intending to catch them off guard, Ed was still surprised by their reactions. Both Izumi and Sig froze in their movements, their heads turning to look at him in surprise. His uncle's face showed no emotion while his aunt couldn't keep her surprise masked.

'Well that's certainly...interesting.' He thought as his eyes moved from one to the other.

"I guess that answers that question." He mused out loud as he took another sip. Izumi recovered from her surprise.

"What does that have to do with Farragut street?" She asked, her eyes narrowed suspiciously.

"Oh it's just that one of the residents of the street came asking for help." He said. "The gang in question were harassing her and she feared for her life. So this resident came to me and asked for my help, to which I agreed. On her way out the door, she asked if the name Rockbell meant anything to me." He looked between his aunt and uncle, but their faces revealed nothing. "I can clearly see it means something to you, so tell me what it is."

Izumi and Sig exchanged glances before Izumi turned back to look at him. "Who was this resident?"

Ed shook his head. "I believe I asked you a question first."

For several moments Edward and Izumi stared at each other; neither of them wanting to back down. Izumi had her 'don't fuck with me' frown on. It had been like this when him and Al were being trained by their Aunt as children. Ed had always been the defiant student while Izumi the immovable teacher. Even after so many years they still refused to budge for one another when it came arguments.

"Urey Rockbell was the name of a close friend of your father." Sig said with a tired sigh. Izumi gave him a look of betrayal while Ed raised an intrigued eyebrow. "Now who was this resident?" Sig asked.

"Oh, she said her name was Winry Rockbell. I'm assuming that she's the daughter of this Urey?" Ed spoke casually.

Izumi's eyes widened. "Winry?" Immediately her face softened and a smile formed on her lips as she turned towards Sig. "Huh, I didn't know she was still living in Central." Cold, soldier Izumi was gone and her gentle side had returned.

Now it was Ed's turn to be caught off guard. "Wait, you know her?"

Izumi seemed to hesitate for a moment before speaking. "Like Sig said, your father and her father were very close friends. Hell, Van and Urey were practically blood brothers in their younger years. And yes, I knew Winry when she was just a little girl."

Ed frowned deeply. 'Practically brothers.' A million questions started whirling through his mind. "You said you knew Winry when she was a girl, yet why have I never met her, or even heard of the name Rockbell before?" Slight frustration could be heard in his voice.

"You have met her you idiot." Izumi responded dryly. "Although you're probably too young to remember. Your mother was close friends with Urey's wife Sarah. Her and Tricia would often get together and bring you two on play dates."

"Play dates?" Ed said dumbly. He had not been expecting this. Edward had come seeking answers about Winry Rockbell, but so far Izumi had only raised even more questions.

Sig tried to muffle his laugh at the befuddled look on Ed's face. Izumi merely smiled as if she was reliving fond memories. "Don't you remember the East park? Your mother used to bring you there before either of you had started school. That's where you and Winry used to play."

Ed's brow furrowed. "Yeah…I do." To be honest he did have some very vague memories of East park. He also very vaguely remembered a little girl who he occasionally saw…oh shit.

"Wait, that was her!" He exclaimed, sounding more like a child then a mature man in his twenties.

Sig couldn't hold back his laughter anymore and let out a deep chuckle.

"Shut up Sig." Ed growled before a swift whack to the back of the head had him offering a sheepish grin to Izumi. His thoughts then returned to the reason for this discussion.

"So me and her were playmates?" Ed asked incredulously. He couldn't have been more the four or five, but who remembers anything from that age. Yet he did recall some images from those years. A few of them were of playing in East Park and some involved a nameless girl with blonde hair. 'Damn, that was really her.' Ed thought as he remembered the same blonde hair, albeit much longer, from the previous night. 'Shit, I was a total jackass to her.'

"Yep." Izumi said with a nostalgic smile. "You two were so cute together."

"So um...how come I don't remember them...at all ?" Ed asked. "Did I suffer a traumatic head that I don't remember?"

"Maybe, I don't know what you do in your spare time. As for the Rockbells, well it's complicated." Izumi said, her face now more serious. "Your father wouldn't be very happy with me telling you this, but it's the family's history so you deserve to know." She leaned forward. "Before either you or Winry were born, it was Urey who helped your father achieve his current position in this city."

"How?" Ed asked with a furrowed brow.

"That, I can't tell you." Izumi said. "But at the time, Urey was your father's most trusted friend. Before Fu, Dalhmen, or even me, your father had Urey. That was when Basque Grand held this city in his hands, your father and Urey took him down together."

'Basque Grand.' Ed thought. According to the stories he'd heard from Izumi and Fu, Grand had been his father's biggest rival for control of Central. Apparently he'd been the big man in town before Van had taken over. 'And Urey Rockbell helped him do that? How?' Ed couldn't hold onto these thoughts for long as his Aunt continued speaking.

"After Winry was born, however, things changed. Your father and Urey had a falling out, and the same more or less happened between Tricia and Sarah. Both of them wanted to keep Winry away from…our world. But it sounds like she got here on her own." A new emotion suddenly came across her face. Ed couldn't tell if it was curiosity or suspicion.

"You said that Winry came to you for help?" Izumi said thoughtfully.

"Yeah." Ed said; still thinking about everything he'd just learned. "Some punks were causing trouble on her home street, but I took care of it." Upon seeing a wealth a questions on his Aunt's face he kept talking. "Winry said that someone recommended that she come to me. I don't think she knows much about the history between our families."

Izumi nodded and turned back to the momentarily neglected steak. "Hmm, this is certainly interesting. I haven't thought about the Rockbells in years." Her face then dropped and a look of sadness flirted across her features.

Ed arched an eyebrow. "What is it?"

Izumi let out a sigh. "The real reason that your father never mentions the Rockbells, was because he had promised Urey that he'd stay away. Van felt that informing you boys about them would only make that promise more difficult."

"Was that the falling out?" Ed asked.

"Yes." Izumi said. "The Rockbells disappeared into the city and did their best to give Winry a normal life."

"Where are Winry's parents right now?" Ed asked, thinking that it would be interesting to meet people who had been so close to his parents. Izumi's face only became graver.

"Sixteen years ago; Urey and Sarah Rockwell were murdered." Ed's eyes widened as she kept talking.

"It happened when they were out grocery shopping. Urey and Sarah were just gunned down in the middle of a busy street. It happened right in front of Winry. The poor girl was only ten years old."

"Jesus." Edward muttered with a shake of his head. His Aunt had always been blunt when it came talking about people who died. "Who did it?"

Izumi's shoulders sagged as she sat back in her chair. "We don't know. They never caught who did it. Van spent months trying to track down the shooter, but nothing ever came up."

"Really?" Ed said somewhat skeptically with an arched eyebrow. Van Hohenheim was the most resourceful man Ed knew, he could find anyone.

At this, Izumi's face hardened at Ed's implication. "Edward, your father had nothing to do with what happened to the Rockbells. Urey was like a brother to him."

"You told me that they had a falling out?" Ed said, staring back at his aunt. "I'm just saying that maybe-"

"Edward!" Izumi snapped. "Enough. You weren't there to witness how close the two of them were. Yes it hurt Van when Urey distanced himself, but your father understood his reasons."

Ed did his best to get rid of any aggression on his face. Not wanting to argue anymore with his Aunt, he spoke in a calm voice. "Sorry, that was disrespectful."

The tension left Izumi's body. "It's alright Edward." She said. "Their murders happened shortly after Tricia's death. All that coupled together changed your father."

Ed could only nod, not really knowing what to say. His father's behavior at the time was now a little more understandable. Ed would never forgive his father for how he had distanced himself from him and Al when they needed him. But this information offered some new insights.

'So it wasn't just Mom.' He thought. 'He was dealing with the death of his best friend too.' Izumi and Sig sat at the table patiently allowing Ed to deal with his thoughts. Eventually Sig spoke when he saw the troubled look on Edward's face.

"Are you alright Ed?"

Edward blinked before regaining his composure. "So…after the shooting, what happened to Winry?" Ed said after a moment.

"Her grandmother, Pinako, came and took her out of Central. As I said earlier, I didn't know she was back in the city until now."

"I guess it's just a small world." Ed shrugged. He wasn't very sure how to take in the information he'd just been given.

"So tell me." Izumi said. "You agreed to help Miss. Rockbell with her problem. What was the price?"

"The what?" Ed asked.

"What did you have her give you?" Izumi asked fixing him with a stern look. "Because I know you don't do things for free."

"Not much." Ed said. "I just did the typical 'I helped you, now you owe me a favor' shtick."

"Edward." Izumi said, there was something strange about her voice. "I can tell that you want to find out more about the Rockbells. I can also see that you seemed to have developed an interest in this girl. Be careful."

"Excuse me?" Ed asked with slightly narrowed eyes.

"Your father distanced himself from his best friend because he promised he wouldn't cause that girl any hardships. I expect you to honor his promise." Izumi leaned back in her chair, arms crossed.

"You're doing it again." Ed grounded out.

"Doing what?" Izumi shot back. Neither of them noticing that Sig had left to check on something in the kitchen.

"Talking to me like I'm still a child. I stopped being a child sixteen years ago, yet I'm being told what I can't and cannot do." Ed defended. "And by the way, she was the one who came to me."

"I know that." Izumi snapped. "But do not pursue her. Do not cash in that favor. Leave Winry Rockbell out of your life."

"What if she ever comes asking for help again?" Ed snapped back. "Do I politely ask her to fuck off because our dads wanted to keep her safe?"

"Please Ed." Izumi's voice had gone softer. "Help her of course, but you need to honor your father's wishes. We all owe it to Urey and Sarah for what they did for us."

 **OoO**

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 **OoO**

Needless to say, Ed didn't stay for dessert after his little blow up with Izumi. He wasn't concerned at all by this having any effect on their relationship. The next time Ed would see her, it would be like this argument hadn't happened. He and his Aunt had fought many times before, and they would only get into many more fights in the future. It wasn't that Ed didn't love Izumi; he loved every member of his family. But he was very competitive and confrontational by nature. Big egos and strong wills ran in his family so arguments were common. Izumi wasn't just his Aunt, she was also his teacher. Their personalities had butted heads even back then and probably always would. Both of them knew that and didn't think anything of it.

'But come on, she practically threatened to have father disown me.' Ed sighed inwardly as he drove through the streets of Central. 'Sometimes I think she forgets that she's not my mother.' He gave a humorless laugh at the last thought.

Tonight had been…illuminating to say the least.

'What are the fucking odds that of all the women who could have walked into my office; she turned out to be an old family friend who I didn't even know existed and have practically been forbidden from ever seeing again?' He mused to himself before frowning deeply.

'So apparently Urey Rockbell helped dad take over the city, yet I'm not allowed to know that?!'

One of the many things that Edward hated was being kept out of the loop. And this was one loop that he'd been kept out of for years. 'I mean what the fuck? I thought I'm supposed to take over the family one day! Shouldn't they be telling me this shit? Am I not allowed to know our own history?'

A loud car honk brought Ed out of his bitter thoughts and he realized his car was drifting to much to the right. After straightening the vehicle, he unwisely went back to his internal conversation.

'The old man's gotta be hiding something. Why else would he keep something like that from me, Al, or Envy?...And what the fuck am I going to do about it?'

"Nothing." Ed sighed before smiling. 'Nothing except for maybe paying Ms. Winry Rockbell a visit. After all, the young lady should know that she no longer owes me a favor. It would be rude not to tell her in person.'

 **OoO**

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 **OoO**

 **Yeah, so this was mostly an exposition chapter. But I hope you enjoyed it! N** **ext chapter, we'll get our second interaction between Ed and Winry.**

 **Still no information on why Atlas sent Winry to Ed and who he's working for. I'll give a hint, it's a character who hasn't appeared in any of my previous stories.**

 **Please Review! I love feedback.**


	9. Chapter 9

**Hey guys.**

 **Joker Oak** , **SleepingBeautyK,** **bloodynessie** : I'm glad you're all looking forward to this story. It's really nice to hear that people are excited about this.

 **Aggie12** : Yeah, Ed's not much of a listener. Izumi probably should have known better. I hope you all will like Ed and Winry's second scene.

 **Master Of The Universe** : Hmm, that's a good guess. I haven't used Father yet in a story so it might be him.

 **Vhosek** : I'm glad that I can keep you on your toes. I'm happy that the characterization is still consistent. Its hard to keep track of everyone, especially in an AU like this. And yes there will be more younger brother ribbing and more EdWin on the horizon.

 **So I bet that with everything happening with Ed and Winry, some of you have probably forgotten about the subplot going on with Solaris/Lust. We're returning to that this chapter. To recap, Shou Tucker abducted and abused one of Solaris' dancers. Solaris reacted by killing one of Tucker's men and gearing up to strike back at Tucker. But Gluttony and her assistant Juliet were able to convince Solaris to talk to Envy. Her and Envy have a bit of an interesting history.**

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"So let me get this straight...you don't know who I am?"

"Never seen yah before."

"Never seen…? Wow! Are you shitting me?"

"No."

The stunned man turned to the other security guard standing outside of the building.

"What about you?"

The second guard shook his head.

"Let me guess. New hires?" The green haired man looked between them.

The first guard spoke up. "That don't matter because we ain't ope-"

He was cut off by a direct punch to his esophagus. Gasping, he clutched his throat as he fell to his knees. The second guard's eyes widened in shock as his partner went down. Before he could move there was a blade pressed up against his throat.

"I kind of cut him off." The grinning man said in a bored tone. "What was he going to say?"

"Uhhh." The guard said unsurely.

"Really Solaris? Are good henchmen that hard to come by these days?" The green haired man shook his head. He swiftly pulled the blade away and head butted the guard. The man fell back clutching his bleeding nose.

"The name is Envy by the way."

Envy stepped over the asphyxiating guard and his broken nosed partner, looking up at the logo.

"You're lucky you two have a hot-as-fuck boss. But the next time I'm here you assholes better give me a warm fucking welcome." Envy smirked before pushing the doors open and entering the club. He quickly strutted down the empty hallway which led to the dance floor. As Envy reached the door, he paused and decided to make a dramatic entrance.

"What's up, dipshits?" He called while kicking the door open.

Several heads turned to look at the source of the voice. Only a handful of them relaxed when they saw Envy walking in.

"Hello Envy." Clara drawled in a bored voice from the bar where she, Rose, and Julia sat. "Still charming as ever."

Envy grinned and was about to respond with an innuendo when he saw a large shape making its way across the dance floor. A chuckle escaped his lips when he recognized said shape.

"Hey Gluttony, how's it going man?" Envy started walking forward. "I think you've lost a few pounds."

Gluttony let out a sigh. "Hi Envy." He said meekly, not looking up at the taller man. Envy glanced around and noticed there were a few new faces that hadn't been here the last time he'd visited. The girls were the same as always, but there were a lot more guys.

"Is it me or did the male to female ratio of this place get kind of funky?" He looked back down at Gluttony. "Because I'm seeing a few new cocks in this hen house."

"We…hired some new muscle." Gluttony said quietly. Envy always intimidated him no matter what.

"New muscle huh?" Envy clasped his hands behind his back as he turned to look around the establishment. "Now that you mention it, people seem kind of…uptight at the moment."

A look of anger came across Gluttony's face. "We've had some problems."

Envy blinked, slightly surprised that the usually meek Gluttony was angry. He let out a sigh.

"And here I was hoping this would be a social call." He muttered. "See ya Glutts. Here's to hoping I'm going to get to screw your sister." He gave the now uncomfortable looking Gluttony a two finger salute before crossing the dance floor. Up head Envy spotted a familiar looking brunette who he recognized as Solaris' assistant. The slightly intimidated woman stood up straight as he approached.

"If you want to fit in more, I'd swap that pencil skirt for a nice little short one." He grinned down at her.

Juliet blushed a little, but kept her voice calm. "Mr. Hohenheim, Ms. Solaris is waiting-"

"Yeah, yeah I know the way." Envy said as he walked past her. "I appreciate the thought though." Juliet let out a gasp as Envy gave a swift slap to her backside. The darkly dressed man chuckled as he continued walking leaving the affronted woman behind him.

As he was leaving the main floor, Envy glanced over his shoulder to see multiple people looking at him. He'd felt their stares and smirked when their eyes darted away as soon as he turned. Still, he couldn't help but wonder as to why he'd been called here. The previous night he'd gotten a message from the lovely Solaris saying that she needed to see him as soon as possible and that it was important.

"Business." He sighed with a tinge of disappointment. It was quickly replaced by curiosity. "Definitely business."

He leisurely walked up the stairs with his hands in the pockets of his long leather coat. While ascending, his attention turned towards other thoughts. 'Still waiting on that text from Ed, I guess Greed must really be dragging his ass on this one.' Envy chuckled.

Soon enough Envy found himself in front of a familiar mahagony door which led to an all too familiar office. Envy grinned and reached for the doorknob before suddenly stopping.

The last time he barged unannounced into this room, he ended up with a knife in his shoulder. Envy decided to play it safe and knock before entering. Although he got no reply, he knew it was okay for him to now enter after a moment. With slight caution since he could never predict what Solaris would do, Envy pushed the door open.

Solaris' office kinda reminded Envy of his father's, only more spacious, as well as a whole lot less moody and depressing. Also, Van Hohenheim didn't have a collection of various ancient and kinky torture devices hanging on his wall. The main difference though was its occupant, who was right now casually sitting behind her desk with a sultry smile on her gracious face.

"Hello Edgar."

There were only two people in the world who were allowed to call him that.

Envy's smirked wolfishly. "You called" He asked as he walked into the room.

"I did." She purred, leaning back into the leather chair. "And do try to be nicer to Juliet. That girl's very useful to me, and I'd rather you didn't scare her off."

"I was just having some fun with her." Envy shrugged as he folded his arms behind his back, coming to a stop right in front of the desk.

"Oh, I've seen what you do to people when you're having fun." Solaris' plump dark red lips morphed into a smirk. "I don't think the poor girl knows how lucky she truly is."

"While we're on the subject of being lucky…" Envy leaned forward on the desk so his face was parallel to Solaris, their noses only inches apart. "Why exactly am I here? Not that it's isn't…" He trailed off to glance down at her ample cleavage. "...good to see you, angel eyes."

Solaris' purple eyes seemed to sparkle as she straightened her back, pushing her chest out even more. Envy's gaze zeroed in on her perfect rack before begrudgingly moving to the tattoo she had just above her breasts, an Ouroboros tattoo.

"I have to say that tattoo really does distract me from a wonderful show." Envy drawled.

"I happen to like my men a little distracted." Solaris leaned in again until their faces were once again inches apart. "Makes things easier."

"Easier for what exactly?" He played along.

Solaris suddenly grabbed a handful of Envy's hair and slammed his head against the desk. Envy was dazed for a moment and he blinked before glancing up at her with a completely unfazed look on his face as Solaris glared down at him. She still held his hair in her grip.

"Edgar." She said slowly. "What did I tell you about Gluttony?"

"What about him?" Envy asked, making no move to free himself from Solaris' grasp. Her grip only tightened on his hair, almost tearing the roots out. Her free hand turned on the computer screen where he could see a close up security camera feed of him and Gluttony from a few minutes ago.

"When you're mean to him, it makes me very unhappy." She still retained a husky, albeit threatening, tone. She was practically ripping his hair off of his skull. But the most Envy showed was a slight twitch of the eyebrow that didn't stop him from smiling in response.

"He's a big boy." Envy said, his hand shooting up and grabbing Solaris' gloved wrist. A small twist forced her to release his long hair. Envy stood up, still twisting her arm in an uncomfortable hold. "He can take a little bit of ball busting."

"He's sensitive." Solaris pulled her hand back, causing it slide out of her long black glove and freeing her from his grip. "So don't mock him in my own establishment!"

Envy glanced down at the black material hanging in his hand before glancing up at her. She winked at him in response.

"As much as you'd love to continue this." Solaris breathed. "Work before pleasure, I'm afraid."

"I knew it." Envy put the glove into his pocket with a shake of his head. "Damn dames always asking for something." The green haired Hohenheim then lazily slumped back into a chair, looking at her expectantly. "So what is it this time?"

A sudden change came over Solaris. Her dark crimson lips dipped into the tiniest hint of a scowl. Gone was the playfulness and teasing from her purple eyes, replaced by a cold anger.

"I want to know Edgar, will you kill Shou Tucker for me?"

Now it was time for Envy's smile to leave his face as he frowned deeply.

Shou Tucker.

In the crime world of Central, few men were as infamous or as feared as him. While Envy didn't find the man worth fearing, his friends did. Tucker's buildings provided 'entertainment' for many of the most powerful men in this city. So Tucker was owed many favors and knew many secrets. Killing him wouldn't be much of a problem. The fallout however…

"No." He said.

While he and his little brother Alphonse disagreed on many things, one aspect they could agree on was that Shou Tucker was the lowest scum in the city. Envy couldn't brag about being very respectful to women, but he'd never compare himself to Tucker. The sick twisted things that happened in Shou's establishments made even Envy's skin crawl. Tucker's reputation wasn't helped by the fact that he'd allegedly murdered his wife and four year old daughter years ago. But no, Envy wouldn't kill him.

"Hhmm." Solaris simply nodded, having expected such a response.

"What did he do?" Envy asked.

"He abducted Emma." Solaris responded. "We eventually got to her, but it was too late. They drugged her, violated her. The poor girl's alive, but will be traumatized for life."

Envy nodded grimly. "So that's why you got the new muscle here?"

"That's why _you're_ here." She responded.

"I'm still not going to kill him, angel eyes." Envy said. "Tucker may be one vile mother fucker, but I can't. You know that's not how it works."

"Not how it works?" Solaris asked tauntingly. "So speaks the crowned prince of Central."

Envy rolled his eyes. For several moments Solaris stared at him. Eventually she sighed and leaned back into her chair. "I know. But you can't blame a girl for trying."

Envy frowned as he looked down at the desk. "If it had been…"

"I know." Solaris responded.

"But it wasn't." He said.

"Not yet." Solaris folded her arms.

Envy sighed. "What do you want me to do?"

"Your father."

"Please rephrase that." Envy deadpanned.

Solaris grinned before getting up from her chair and walking over to the glass window overlooking the club. As she did, Envy couldn't help but stare at her perfect ass. 'I hate to see you go, but I do love to watch you leave.' He chuckled inwardly. Usually he'd say that out loud, but Solaris wasn't in the right mood to appreciate it.

"When we first found Emma, I was fucking pissed." Solaris said as she gazed out at the dance floor. "No, I was beyond furious. Tucker is always trying to ensnare young women into his depraved web. He's gone after my girls before, but never like this. After we found Emma, nothing was going to stop me from castrating that little shit and then making him swallow it."

Envy felt a smile forming at her words. God he loved it when she talked like that. So angry and vengeful, it always got a rise out of him. "So what _did_ stop you?"

Solaris turned to look at him with an amused smile. "Gluttony."

"Huh?"

Solaris' laugh was as deep and husky as her voice. "Believe it or not, my little brother was able to talk me out of going to war." She started walking back towards the desk.

"Seriously?" Envy asked, quite dumbfounded.

Solaris' grin grew as she stood in front of the desk, facing him. "I'll admit I was surprised as well. When I'm really pissed I'm not usually the most rational of people. But Gluttony was able to convince me of an alternate approach."

Envy could see where this was going. "Let me guess, you want me to talk to my dad."

Solaris nodded as her face heartened once again. "If I had my way, Shou Tucker would die in agony. But I have my girls to think about. Going to war against a Tucker would only put them in more danger."

The surprise on Envy's face was pretty obvious. "Fucking shit, when did you get so responsible?"

Solaris shrugged and leaned back onto her desk. "I like to choose my fights carefully. This is one I may not win, but something must be done."

Envy nodded, her face serious. "I'll talk to pops, I can't guarantee anything but I'll try."

"Make sure that Van knows that Tucker started this and he's the fucker that needs to pay." Solaris said with a long sigh. "Tell him that if Tucker ever goes near one of my girls again, it'll be all out war. Tucker better bleed for this"

Envy looked at her for a moment before letting out a laugh. "Whatever he does, it won't satisfy you. I can see it in your eyes, you want blood."

Solaris didn't return the laugh. "He better bleed." She repeated.

"I'll be your messenger." Envy said. "But no promis..."

Envy stopped talking to gaze up her for a moment before he suddenly inhaled loudly as a curious look came across his face. He sniffed several more times before arching an eyebrow at Solaris. "Is that blood I smell?"

A smirk finally came back to her lips as her deep purple eyes fixed him with a smoldering look. "Maybe." She replied innocently.

Envy's grin widened as he stood up, stalking closer to her. "You kill someone in here recently?"

"Yes, I did." Solaris watched his every movement like a predator eyeing its prey. She leaned back onto her desk the closer he got.

"One of Tucker's guys?" He asked.

"Mmmhhhh." Solaris nodded.

"When?" His voice was now demanding.

"Hmmm, about two days ago." Her's was husky.

"How'd you do it?" Envy's tongue darted out to lick his lips.

"Slowly." By now he was inches away from her. Damn he wanted this woman. Envy's mind was screaming at him to grab the wicked temptress before him and fuck her brains out. But he wanted to keep playing this game.

"I bet you had him screaming."

"Oh, he wailed like a little bitch." Solaris pushed herself off the desk so that her body was only centimeters away from Envy's. He had to stifle a groan when her heavy breasts pressed against his chest. Dear god, he loved those breasts! Envy felt all of his blood heading south. Solaris' eyes flashed mischievously before she pressed her entire body flush against him. Immediately Envy grabbed her luscious hips and dug his fingertips into the flesh. He pulled her body against his. Despite the hard woman within, Solaris was all soft and alluring curves on the outside. Her arms rested lazily on his shoulders as they stared at each other with heated expressions.

"How expensive is this dress by the way?" His harsh whisper caused an involuntary shudder to go through her body.

"I've got plenty more just like it." Solaris answered as she rested her head on his shoulder. "Don't hold back on me." Her pink tongue darted out and licked a long trail up Envy's neck.

Envy ripped the shit out of that dress.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Dominic's Automail Shop. 9:26 p.m:**

"How's the arm Mr. Jefferson?"

Winry stood with her hands clasped behind her back as she watched the older man flex his new automail. Like all of her creations, it was expertly done. The light shined off its smooth, perfectly constructed surface.

"It's so much lighter." He said in awe. "How do you do that Winry?"

Winry gave a sheepish smile. "Be careful, if I answer that question I'll be talking for hours. Besides, it's a family secret."

Mr. Jefferson chuckled. "I'll take your word for it. Anyway this is great; thanks Winry."

Her smile turned proud. "There's no need to thank me, Mr. Jefferson, it was my pleasure. I added some modifications. It should be lighter and creak less during damp weather." Winry then grabbed a calendar book off a nearby desk and began flipping through it. "Lets see…how about we schedule the next appointment for three weeks from now? Give you some time to get use to the new arm."

"Sounds good."

"And here's the oil." She handed him a small can along with a syringe. "Rub this onto the joints and port about once every two days to keep them from sticking. And make sure to dry it thoroughly after taking a shower to avoid rust. It'll be very bad if the skin around the metal gets infected."

"I already know this Winry." Mr. Jefferson chuckled.

"That's what everyone says." She responded lightly. "Then next thing I know, they're calling me saying how the joint won't move and there's mold forming on the port."

"Well...I'll keep those tips in mind." Mr Jefferson said, looking at his metal arm as he moved it around. "Thanks again."

"Don't mention it." Winry placed the scheduler down. "So remember, come back in three weeks for a check up. If there's any pain, or irritation; give us a call."

"Alright." Mr Jefferson said as he finished his personal inspection. "Have a nice day Winry."

Winry responded with a smile and a wave as Mr. Jefferson turned and exited the operation room.

Mr. Jefferson stepped out of the workshop and into the street. He experimentally flexed his new metal arm once again as he looked down at it appreciatively. He was about to go to his car when he heard a voice.

"Hello there."

He turned to see a young golden haired man walking up to him. The young man was wearing a brown leather jacket, gray shirt, and black pants. His eyes were golden as well and he had a pleasant smile on his face. There was something very familiar about this man, but Mr. Jefferson couldn't quite place it.

"Sorry to bother you." The young man said. "But did you just come from that automail shop?"

"Uhhh." Jefferson said. "Yeah."

"Ok." The young man nodded. "I'm just looking around at different automail shops around town. I'm trying to find the best one."

Jefferson looked him up and down. He appeared to have all of his limbs. "You need automail?"

"No." He said. "I don't need it thankfully, but someone I know has a problem and I'm just trying to help her out. Would you recommend this place." He pointed his thumb to the Dominic's Shop sign.

"Oh yeah it's great." Jefferson said. "The mechanic here is amazing."

"That so?" The young man asked curiously.

"Well, technically she's only the assistant mechanic." Jefferson said, holding his arm up for the young man to see. "I've been missing this arm for a while now, gone through plenty of mechanics. But she's the best one I've ever had work on it. If you ask me, she should be the one owning the shop."

"She's that good, huh?" The young man looked down to examine the arm. "Well, I'll certainly have to look into this."

Back inside, Winry was putting her tools into a box. She heard the bell hanging above the door of the shop ring, but she paid it no mind for the moment. It was probably Paninya or someone coming in to browse. Dominic was gone for the day. His son's wife had gone into an early labor and the usually gruff man had practically sprinted out the door. Winry put the last tool into the box and walked out. She had a new peach colored mechanic jumpsuit on. Completing her outfit were black gloves, and a green bandanna keeping her hair back. Winry stepped out and put on a smile. She couldn't keep it on however, when she saw who had entered.

"Hello Miss Rockbell."

Winry froze, her friendly smile turned into a open mouth gape. Her eyes were no doubt as wide as saucer plates as she stared at him.

Why was _he_ here?

"M-M-Mr. Elric?" She eventually gasped out.

Indeed, Edward Elric was standing at the front desk of Dominic's automail shop. He was wearing casual clothes and sporting a very wide grin.

"No need to look so startled, Winry. And please, do call me Edward."

Winry once again found herself like a deer caught in the headlights. Was it going to be like this every time they met? It probably depended on how many more times they were going to meet?

"Mr. Elric." She repeated. "Why are you here?"

Was he here for that favor so soon?

"Well since I have all four of my limbs, I don't think of this shop's services." He said. "I just wanted to come say hi and see if you're satisfied with how our arrangement turned out."

"Satisfied?" Winry asked. She was standing near the door that lead to the back rooms. She didn't think she was going to have make a run for it. But she felt better knowing there was an available escape route.

"Well, we did make a deal if you remember." Elric said, hands in his pockets as he strolled casually around the shop. "I fix your home grown problem in return for a favor. So, how's everything on Farragut street?" He turned back to her.

Winry gave a sigh, her day had been so normal up until this point. "Things are great actually." She admitted. "Bald and his men are gone."

"They're going to be gone for long time." Ed informed her. "I made sure a few more charges were added to their arrest report." His golden eyes glanced over to look into her surprised azure ones.

"You can just do that?" She asked incredulously. She didn't know if she should be impressed, disgusted, or intimidated.

"I can do many things, Winry." Elric smirked proudly. "Especially with a simple phone call."

"Wait." Winry said. "Did all you do was make a phone call?"

"That was all I needed to do." Elric shrugged. "What? Did you expect me to drive all the way to Farragut street to beat up some thugs I've never met? No, I pay the cops to do that for me."

Winry felt her jaw drop even more. She knew the Hohenheims were powerful, but that was just crazy. "Just one phone call and the entire Central police force is at your disposal?"

"Not exactly." Elric said. "It's complicated. But enough about my methods of chivalry." He turned fully to look at her. "Now, in that bargain we made, you agreed to give me a favor."

'Here we go.' Winry signed, preparing herself for whatever he was going to ask of her.

"Are you cashing it in?" She asked wearily. Her hands were shaking slightly but thankfully her large gloves hid them.

Elric nodded and gave her a smile. She couldn't quite decipher whether or not to scared of that smile.

"Alright." Winry said, trying not to let her nervousness show. "What is this favor?"

Elric was quiet for a moment as he took a few steps towards her. Winry's face showed a look of uncertainty as she watched him dramatically come to a stop in front of her. Winry's eyes widened when she realized that he was less than a foot away from her. His sudden proximity to her caused a few beads of sweat to run down Winry's back. Staring up into his eyes, despite it all, Winry felt herself getting hypnotized by the two pools of molten gold. That and the heat radiating from his body caused Winry's stomach to do a mini somersault. And it wasn't because she was nervous.

'What the hell is happening to me?' Winry thought as Edward's eyes continued to bore into her own. At first she thought it was just nerves, but then Winry felt a warm feeling blossoming in her lower stomach. 'No, bad Winry! Bad!' She berated herself. 'He's dangerous. He's a criminal. A guy like him shouldn't be causing these reactions in you!'

Finally, Elric opened his mouth to speak. "Ok, so what I want for you to do is…" He trailed off dramatically for a moment. "...buy me a coffee."

'…what?' Winry blinked.

"I want you to buy me a coffee." Elric said with amusement in his eyes. "After that, all of your debts are paid."

Forget their first meeting, this was officially the strangest moment of her life. Seriously? Coffee?

"Are you…are you drunk?" She asked, stunned. Needless to say his bizarre request had cut short any reaction that his presence was having on her. Speaking of which, Winry made a mental note to later figure out why the hell Edward Elric had such an effect on her.

"No." Elric laughed and shook his head. Winry had to admit that he had a nice laugh, but that was completely off topic.

"You seriously want to have coffee at 9:30 at night?" She asked.

"I have a long night ahead of me." Elric said. "And I faintly recall 'no questions asked' as being apart of this whole thing."

"This is crazy." Winry protested. "I'm at work." She then motioned down towards her outfit. "I'm wearing a stained jumpsuit. I can't just go out to get coffee with you."

"Well, I think you can." Elric said. "I couldn't help but notice that this shop closes at 10:00. It's already 9:30. What's the harm with leaving a little bit early?"

Winry sighed, her hands on her hips as she stared at the man in front of her. 'What's the worst that can happen?' She thought to herself. Although she knew anything could happen while in the presence of Edward Elric…a deal's a deal.

"Fine." Winry said, folding her arms as she frowned up at him. "Where do you want to go?"

"I thought you'd never ask." Elric grinned. He turned and walked over to the window, turning the 'We're Open' sign to 'We're Closed'.

"Usually when a gangster in a movie does something like that, somebody gets murdered." Winry chuckled nervously.

"Well, we're not in a movie so I think you're safe." Ed chuckled over his shoulder. "How long are you going to need to close up?"

"About 10 minutes." Winry answered.

"Well, then." Elric strolled over to the waiting bench and folded his arms behind his head as he sat down, his feet crossed at the ankles in front of him. "I'll see you in 10 minutes."

Winry shook her head in bewilderment and moved into the back rooms, leaving an amused Ed watching her.

"Wait until Paninya and Sheska hear about this." Winry muttered to herself as she made her rounds to make sure everything was locked up. Once she was done, Winry came out to find Elric in the same position that she had left him in.

"All set?" He asked.

"Let's just get this over with." Winry muttered in return. Despite the power that Elric had shown her so far this afternoon, she wasn't going to act like a scared little mouse waiting for the big cat to leave her alone. Though, her remarks seemed to amuse him much to her chagrin. His grin widened and he quickly shot to his feet.

'Well he certainly seems energetic.' Winry thought.

"Then let's head out." He opened the door of the shop for her. Winry pulled on her new coat and walked out the door.

The constant sound of distant and nearby cars greeted her as she walked out into the brisk city air. The lights of the city glowed brightly, a contrast to their usual dull look. But what caught Winry's attention was a black limo parked right in front of the shop.

Winry couldn't help the ever growing sense of unease. Buying this guy coffee was one thing, but getting into a car with blackened out windows was something else entirely. Winry had to lock the door before leaving so she turned around to Elric. He was just coming out and stepped to the side to allow her to give her room. As Winry slid her key into the lock she glanced at Elric's reflection in the window. Once again, she couldn't help but slyly check him out. His outfit hinted at a toned and well defined body underneath. He wasn't a bodybuilder by any means, but if she had to guess, he wasn't someone you'd want to get into a fight with. She looked away quickly when their eyes met in the reflection. The sharpness of his eyes bounced off the glass. It was a wonder how such distinctive eyes could still reveal nothing about his thoughts.

She turned around to find that infuriating smirk on his face. His hands were in his pockets as he looked at her expectantly. Winry glanced from him to the limo and back at him.

"Are we driving?" She asked cautiously.

"No." Elric said. "The place I've got in mind is well within walking distance." He pointed down the street to Winry's left. "Shall we?"

"How far is it?" She asked, taking a few tentative steps in the direction that Elric had pointed.

"Only a few blocks." Elric answered, quickly catching up to her with his long legs. "Thankfully, you can find a good coffee shop on just about any street in this city."

Winry didn't say anything after that and walked alongside Elric down the sidewalk. The streets were very active tonight. They passed many people going about their business. Occasionally, a person would give a quick glance in their direction. Others looked to be doing their best to look anywhere but at them. Eventually Winry glanced over at Elric to see if it was bothering him. He had an unfazed expression on his face, as if he didn't even notice. She wasn't surprised, his distinctive hair and eyes were a dead giveaway as to who he was. 'He probably deals with this every time he goes outside.' While looking at Elric she saw over his shoulder that the black limo that had been parked in front of her shop was slowly following them.

Elric must have felt her eyes on him and glanced over at her. He saw her gaze over his shoulder and followed it to the limo.

"Oh, don't worry about that." He chuckled. "That's just some friends of mine keeping an eye on me."

"Are they always following you like that?" Winry asked.

"I'm afraid so." Elric answered. "Don't know if you heard, but a while back some punks took a few shots at me."

"I heard some people talking about it." Winry answered. "But I didn't hear anything about it in the news."

"Exactly." Elric smirked.

"Oh what?" Winry asked with a raised eyebrow. "You telling me you guys control the news?"

"Control is such a strong word." Elric said. "I'd say…influence."

'I almost forgot that this guy was an irritating shit.' Winry thought as they once again went back to being quiet as they walked. It wasn't an uncomfortable silence, still, Winry couldn't help but look at Elric every once in awhile.

'Why does he want to get coffee with me?' She thought. 'What is this about?...This had better not be some kind of date!'

After a few minutes, Elric suddenly stopped. "Here we are." He turned around to face her. Winry glanced from him to the building he had pointed to. She was kind of expecting some kind of secret mobster coffee shop that was hidden in the basement of an unassuming building. Instead it was a small diner that she'd actually been to several times herself to get coffee.

"You go here?" She asked in surprise.

"I've been here once or twice." Elric answered as he walked to the door. "It's small and quiet. Away from prying eyes."

Elric once again held the door open for her as they entered, to which Winry responded with a quiet "Thank you."

It was a typical diner with customers sitting at the bar and in booths. There weren't too many people in it which seemed to suit Elric just fine. He choose a booth that was the farthest away from the other customers. He sat himself down and motioned towards the cushioned seat across from him. Winry looked at it for a moment before sitting herself down in front of him. Elric was smirking again.

"Well." He said. "Here we are."

"Is it nice to be away from your protective shadow?" She asked, glancing out the window for the black limo.

"Oh, if only." Elric chuckled. "See that creepy looking shit in the corner booth right behind me?"

Winry glanced over his shoulder to see a young Xingese man sitting in the corner with a black hat and coat on. Subtle.

"Friend of yours?" She asked.

"I like to think so. His name's Ling." Elric said. "He's only looking out for me."

"Is he worried that I'm going to try and kill you or something?" She asked, giving the Xingese man a once over. He looked to be distracted by something else in the diner, but Winry had the feeling that he was somehow looking directly at her.

"Well he definitely has you on his radar." Elric smirked. "But mostly he's on the look for other things."

"So…he has a gun, right?" Winry asked a little cautiously. Even being in a room with a gun made her uncomfortable. It had been difficult to sleep in her apartment knowing that Paninya's gun was not too far away. She was relieved when she returned it.

"He does indeed." Elric nodded. "I do too."

Winry looked down at his jacket, her face paling slightly. Her eyes searched for any shape that might signify a holster.

Elric chuckled. "No one's going to shoot you Winry. I just feel more safe when I have it on me."

Winry tore her eyes away from him before looking down at a menu. "What type of coffee do you like?" She asked a little too quickly trying not to think about all the loaded guns near her.

"What's the rush?" Elric asked. "We just got here. Let's just get _comfortable_ and wait for them to come to us."

Winry knew that he literally meant the normal definition of the word comfortable, but that didn't stop a small blush from working its way onto her cheeks. Thankfully, Elric didn't notice, or more than likely, he did but decided not to comment. Glancing up she saw him looking at her with amusement in his eyes.

"Why are you looking at me like that?" She asked, not very politely.

Elric smirked and tapped a finger against his right cheek. "You have a tiny smudge of oil on your face."

Winry blushed even harder, her hand shooting to cover her crimson face. "I-I'll be right back." She stuttered embarrassingly. Standing up, she sprinted towards the bathroom.

Edward's smirk of amusement grew as he watched her practically run away to wash up. He'd seen the smudge the moment he'd met her in the shop. He felt a little guilty for not mentioning it until now, but the look on her face had been priceless. Ed also took this time to look her up and down before she disappeared behind the restroom door. The mechanic jumpsuit wasn't as complementary as the outfit she'd worn in in his office. Still, he had to admit that she had a great body. While rather loose and baggy, the jumpsuit did draw his attention to the curves of her waist and the swell of her rounded hips. He wouldn't mind seeing her in a nice figure hugging dress.

Plus, she looked pretty cute when she blushed.

Seeing that he had a little more time to himself, Ed thought about how he was going to proceed. Eventually, he was going to have to stop teasing her and get to the point of this impromptu meeting. He had many questions about their father's shared past, and hopefully she could fill in some of the blanks.

Ed ordered a normal cappuccino when the waitress came around.

In the bathroom, Winry was scrubbing at the black smudge as she glared at her reflection. 'Stupid smudge.' She thought angrily. The memory of Elric's smug face only made her more aggravated.

'That's as good as it's going to get for now.' She thought as she stepped back. All she had to do was pay for his coffee and get out before she embarrassed herself in front of this man any more. Straightening out her jacket, she gave herself a once over before heading back out.

Elric was where she had left him and he gave her a friendly nod as she sat down.

"Did you order?" She asked.

"Yep. Don't worry, it wasn't anything too expensive." He responded. "And by the way, I'd like to apologize."

Winry's forehead crinkled in confusion. "For what?" She asked.

"When you were leaving my office you asked me what your name meant to me and I responded by saying nothing." Elric said. "I'm apologizing because I was wrong."

"Wrong?" She folded her arms.

"I wasn't…very informed of our past history. But I recently became more aware." He shrugged.

"What the hell are you talking about?" She asked, confused.

"I mean that there is a connection between our two families." Elric said before asking. "What do you know about our parents?"

Winry found herself at a loss for words, she blinked unsure of what to say. "Not much, to be honest I was hoping that you would know. That's why I asked you"

Ed was silent for a moment as he merely watched her. Eventually he chuckled. "To be honest, I only found out about some of the story a few days ago myself."

Winry frowned skeptically. "What did you find out?" She asked, leaning forward a little.

"Our parents were very close friends." He informed her. "And not just our dads. Our mother's were good friends too."

"Seriously?" Winry asked stunned. She'd had her suspicions, but now they were finally confirmed. Immediately Winry was assaulted with dozens of unanswered questions and images of a bleeding man with golden hair laying on her couch.

"Yep." Edward said as he leaned back into his seat. "To hear my Aunt tell it, your dad and my dad were practically blood brothers."

The look on Winry's face was genuine surprise, Ed noted. She probably didn't know any more than he did, if not less.

"I'm sorry about what happened to them." Ed said. When he saw the surprised look on her face become a little confused, he kept talking to clarify. "Your parents. No one should ever have to witness something like that." He spoke with genuine sincerity.

Winry simply nodded in response, her thoughts momentary taking her to old unpleasant memories. Images of a crowded street and the flash of a gun barrel followed by loud screaming. Thankfully she didn't stay there for long as golden eyes anchored her back into reality. Suddenly Winry was back in the coffee shop, sitting across from Elric.

"Hey."

Winry jumped, startled by his voice. Glancing at him, she was surprised to see Elric looking at with real concern in his eyes. It took Winry a moment to realize that she was gripping the table rather tightly, her knuckles white.

"Are you okay?" Elric said with a frown.

Immediately, Winry released her death grip on the table. "Oh yeah, I'm fine." She did her best to sound fine. "It's just been awhile since I've thought about it."

"Sorry for it bringing it up." Elric said, sheepishly rubbing the back of his neck.

"No it's ok." She said. "It's just…sometimes when I think about it…" She shook her head as if to get the thoughts out of her head. "People say time heals all wounds. Well, some take a long time to heal."

Elric simply nodded in understanding and a sad smile drifted onto his face. He knew all too well. She didn't see anything devious in his eyes which relaxed her a little. Normally she wouldn't say something like that in front of people. Even people she was close to.

"If this is bringing up some bad memories for you, we can stop talking and I'll get the hell out of here." Elric offered.

"I said I'm fine." Winry said, waving her hand dismissively. "And I've…kind of been wondering about this whole thing too."

"How much do you know?" Elric asked, leaning forward on his elbows.

"Not much." Winry shrugged. "I lived with my grandmother for a few years out in the countryside. No matter how many times I asked her about my parents and your father, she would never tell me. When my parents were alive, they weren't helpful either. I didn't ask much because I was so young. But every time I would, they'd tell me to wait until I was older. And when I thought I was older, they'd tell me the same excuse."

"If no one ever told you, then how did you know about their connection at all?" Elric asked curiously.

"When I was about…four." Winry said. "Your father came to my house."

"Four?" Elric asked in surprise. "I was told they stopped associating with each other around the time when we were both two."

"We?" Winry asked. "How old are you?"

"26." Elric answered. "You?"

"Same." Winry answered.

"It's like we're twins." Elric said dryly. "So if you can remember, why was my father at your house?"

Winry bit her lip a little. She wasn't sure how to exactly say to this man that his father had been dragged into her living room with a gunshot wound to the chest. After a few moments of silence she decided to just go ahead and say it.

"Your father was injured and he came to my parents for help." She said.

"Injured?" Elric crinkled his forehead as if the very concept was foreign to him. "Injured how?"

"He'd been shot." Winry said in quiet voice.

"Shot!" Elric's eyebrows rose high on his forehead. It was strange seeing his usually guarded or smug face look so caught off guard. It suddenly hit Winry that this was the first time Elric must be hearing of this. Based on his reaction, this was the first time he'd ever heard about his father being injured.

"I don't know any of the details." Winry said. "My mom put me to bed as soon as I was noticed and they didn't answer any questions afterwards. It was a few years later when I saw a picture of your father in a newspaper that I figured out who he even was. But even then, I didn't get any answers."

"Is that the only time my father ever came to your house?" He asked.

"As far as I know." Winry answered. "We moved around a little bit in the beginning so I don't know if your father knew where we lived. He did come to my parents funeral though."

"He did?" Elric wasn't as caught off guard, but he still looked a little surprised.

"He wasn't there for long." Winry said. "At the end he came up to me and said 'I'm sorry for your loss'. After that he just left."

"Sounds like him." Elric said dryly. "Quick, emotionless, and to the point."

"How much do you know about all this? What exactly did our parents do together?" Winry asked. It seemed like he was in the midst of uncovering some unknown family history of his own.

Elric seemed to hesitate for a moment. "Look, Winry." He said in a surprisingly soft voice. "Be careful with some questions you might have. There's some things I can tell you and some things that I can't. It's not that I don't like you. It's just that it's better for you and us if your knowledge of certain things is limited. It'll be safer for you."

"Well, what can you tell me then?" She asked with a sigh.

"I know that our Dads worked together." Elric said. "Years before either of us were born they worked together as partners."

"Partners? To do what?" Winry asked.

"Build." Elric responded as he motioned to the outside city.

"Oh..." Winry said thoughtfully. "What exactly did my father do for yours?"

"I don't know exactly." Elric said. "I just know that your father helped my father get to where he is today. Whatever that involved could be anything."

"There's more to it then that." Winry said a frown forming on her face. "You're not telling me everything you know."

"I swear that's all I know." Elric said, holding his hands up in surrender. "I tried to find out the specifics, but I couldn't."

"Why?" Winry asked unconvinced. "Why won't they tell you?"

"It's a sensitive topic I guess." Elric sighed.

"For who?" She pressed on, knowing that any moment now she might wear the his patience thin.

Elric scoffed at her persistent questioning, but answered. "My father."

There was a moment of silence before Winry decided to take a risk. "If you did know, would you tell me?" She asked.

Elric's golden eyes looked into her azure ones for several moments. "You want to know if your dad was a criminal?"

"Was he?" She asked.

"I told you I don't know." Elric said

Winry bit her lower lip. "But would you even tell me if you did know?" She asked again. This time sounding more pleading than persistent.

Elric regarded her again for a few moments. "You should really have become a reporter or something. I haven't been grilled like this since…hell, yesterday." He shook his head with a small chuckle. His eyes still held their gaze.

"Yes, I would tell you." He finally said.

Oddly enough, Winry found herself believing him.

It was at this point that the coffee finally arrived. Ed and Winry had completely forgotten about the order until now so neither of them thought about the slow service.

"Would you like anything else?" The waitress asked.

"No, we're good." Elric said. "Would you mind giving us the check? We're almost done here "

The waitress handed them the check and went off to deal with another table. Winry reached for the check to pay for it, but Elric grabbed it first.

"I thought this was all about me paying for the coffee?" She asked with slightly narrowed eyes. "That was the favor after all."

"I feel like paying for it anyway." Elric picked his coffee up and took a sip out of it. "You're debt free by the way. So don't worry about any of that."

"You know you could have just asked if I knew anything back at the shop" Winry said, leaning back into the cushioned seat. "You didn't need to take me out to this diner."

"I like coffee." Elric spoke into the cup. "And you should take it as a gift from an old friend."

"Old friend?" Winry questioned, her eyebrows scrunching in confusion.

"Oh, did I forget to mention?" Elric said with a small smile. "Not only did our parents know each other a hundred years ago, but so did we. Believe it or not but we used to go on playdates together."

Forget what she had said earlier in the workshop, this moment right now was the weirdest moment of Winry's entire life.

"Are you fucking serious?" She asked with an equal amount of skepticism and bewilderment.

"One hundred percent." He said confidently. "Our moms used to take us on play dates together when we were little. To the the park and stuff like that."

"When?" Winry questioned. "I don't remember any of this."

"Neither did I." Elric informed her. "I guess it was when we were about one or two. Who actually remembers anything from that age?"

There was a short moment of silence between the two of them until Winry spoke up. "It's a really small world after all." She deadpanned.

Ed let out a laugh. For whatever reason, the way she said it had him unable to control himself. Across the table he caught Winry giving a small smile.

"No shit." He said. "You said some guy just recommended me to you?"

"Yeah." Winry said. "Someone who just happened to be in the police station. His name was…um…Voyager I think."

"Oh, it was probably a guy named Melvin Voyager." Ed informed her. "He had a meeting with my brother a few weeks ago, I forget what it was about. I guess he has a bigger mouth than we thought."

"Please don't kill him or anything." Winry said, cringing slightly.

He gave her a crooked grin. "Ok, but only because you asked me so nicely."

This response brought another small smile to Winry's face. A short, but oddly comfortable silence then fell over the two of them. Edward soon realized that he was almost finished with his coffee. Placing his cup down, Ed reached into his coat pocket and pulled out a card with a phone number.

"There's another reason that I wanted to talk to you. If you ever run into any trouble, let me know." Ed told her as he slid the card across the table.

"What do you mean?" Winry asked confused.

"You're a friend of the family. We don't abandon our friends." Ed said. "If anyone ever gives you shit, just give me a call."

"And the problem will just go away like that?" Winry asked.

"Yes. I wouldn't expect you to know this, but in my line of business when you help someone out they become under your protection." Ed responded. "And as I said, you're an old family friend."

"But we barely know each other." Winry said.

"Do you think I like half the people I have to do favors for?" Ed grinned. "Believe me, you're a lot funner to help out." He leaned forward. "Listen Winry, this is just an offer. After we walk out of this diner we might never see each other ever again. I can tell you're someone who likes to do it your own way and I can definitely respect that. But just in case you find yourself in a really 'unfortunate' situation, you can always reach out to me. Until then, I leave it in your hands."

"Ummm…thank you." Winry said, sounding rather floored. "I don't really know if I'd be comfortable with…"

"Getting help from a criminal?" Ed asked with a toothy grin.

"Uh…" Winry didn't know how to respond.

"It's alright." Ed smirked. "Just know that the offer stands."

"Mr. Elric-"

"Edward." He said with a cheeky grin.

Winry rolled her eyes, but chuckled anyway. "Ok, Edward. Thank you for the offer and…thank you for everything you've done for me." Her cheeks turned a light shade of pink as she spoke.

Edward's grin slowly grew. "Well if you wouldn't mind, could I give you a ride home?"

Winry's eyes briefly widened before she sighed. "Not done showing off for me, huh?"

Ed grinned and held his hands out like a salesman. "What can I say, I'm incorrigible."

"You're certainly something."

Ed chuckled again before pushing his chair away from the table and standing up. "So…about that ride."

'Well he hasn't killed me yet.' Winry thought as she moved to get up as well. "Sure, as long as there's no catch."

Edward narrowed his eyes in mock offense. "Catch? What kind of person do you take me for?"

"I don't think I quite know what kind of person you are yet." Winry said as the two of them walked towards the door to the diner.

Once again, Ed opened the door for her and held it to let her pass. Winry walked outside to see the same black limousine from earlier parked right in front of the diner. While she wasn't nearly as nervous as she had been about the prospect of getting into this vehicle, she would be lying if she said she was perfectly alright with it. Out of the corner of her eye she saw Elric walking ahead to open the door for her.

Suddenly she heard the sound of muffled knocking.

She paused in her steps, wondering what that sound was. Next to her, Elric had frozen. The knocking seemed to be coming from the car. Specifically, the trunk. Along with the knocking, Winry swore that she could hear the muffled sounds of a person's voice.

Winry let out a gasp as her eyes widened in realization. There was somebody in the trunk.

She took a step away from the vehicle in horror, unable to tear her eyes away from it.

'There's someone in the trunk.' She thought. 'He's got someone in his trunk.'

"Winry."

She jumped at the sound of his voice. She spun to look at him and saw him gazing at her with a grim expression on his face. He made no move towards, yet she still stepped away from him.

"How about we put a raincheck on that ride home, okay?" He gave a bitter smile.

His eyes reminded her of a hawk now. He was watching her reaction, seeing if she was going to start yelling or run for it.

She didn't trust her voice to speak and only nodded. She took a few more steps away from him, similar to how a person would walk away from a tiger. Elric frowned at her but didn't say anything else.

She finally worked up the courage to turn away from him. Once she did, she quickly walked away as fast as she could. Her heart was pounding.

'He has someone in his trunk.' She repeated in her head. 'This whole time there was someone in the trunk.'

She had no idea who the man in the trunk was and what Elric was going to do to him. All she knew was that she wanted to get as far away from Edward Elric as she could.

"Fuck."

Edward swore under his breath as watched the blonde fleeing from him.

That had not gone well. At all.

"Well she was certainly a cute one. Totally your type." He heard Ling's voice as his friend came out of the diner. "You ready to go Ed?"

"What the fuck Ling?" Ed growled as turned glare at him.

"What?" Ling asked.

Ed didn't say anything and glared silently at Ling. Ling stared back in confusion until he heard the muffled knocking.

"Oh shit." He said. "Did she...?"

Ed nodded.

"Sorry." Ling said sheepishly.

"Why the fuck is he in there?" Ed glowered at Ling.

Ling shrugged helplessly and Ed let out a long sigh.

"Just get in the car." Ed ordered.

"Sorry for ruining your date." Ling muttered as he walked past Ed.

"Just shut up."

Ed walked around the back of the car to get to the other passenger seat. He stopped briefly to glare down at the trunk before giving it a kick. The asshole inside had just dug his grave even deeper.

 **OoO**

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Yoki Youswell hadn't been having a good week. Not at all.

It wasn't that his business was doing poorly, no quite the opposite. He had made a killer off a several boxing matches and even a football game. Who would guess that the local high school football coach would be willing to taking a dive. So no, Yoki's job as the number one fixer in Central was going well.

'But who knows how long that's gonna last.' Yoki cursed inwardly as he snapped a pencil in his hand.

First it had been that embarrassing call from Elric. Shortly after that, word had got out about the gang who had moved into Farragut street without Yoki's knowledge. 'I bet it was that smug little shit Hohenheim! Mr. All High and Mighty trying to humiliate me.' He thought bitterly.

Shortly after his reputation took a blow, Yoki had then found out about the case being built against Barry Yandell. The thought of it made him want to smash his hands against his desk.

'Yandell you dumb fuck. You had one fucking job to do, one fucking job!' Somehow some stupid witness had seen Yandell leaving the scene of his latest hit. This witness was now in protective custody and willing to testify for Olivier fucking Armstrong.

'If they get Yandell, he'll squeal like a pig to save his own ass. He knows too much. Shit!'

Just as Yoki was thinking about the best way to make Yandell disappear forever, his phone suddenly rang. The loud ringing caused the short gangster to jump in his chair. Frowning at this unwanted interruption, Yoki's scowl only grew when he didn't recognize the number.

Grabbing his phone, Yoki held it up to his ear. "I don't know who the fuck this is, but I'm not in the fucking-"

"-mood for this? Yes, I figured that you wouldn't be. But I decided to call anyway." A deep voice cut him off. He did not recognize the voice.

"Who is this?" Yoki was known to have a patience the size of a single blade of grass.

"I'm you're new best friend, Mr Yoki." The voice replied.

"And I'm hanging up now." Yoki sighed.

"Before you do that, you really should hear what I have to say. I've heard that you've been having some problems with the police." The man on the other line spoke.

This caught Yoki's attention. Frowning cautiously, he lifted the phone closer to his ear. "Alright, what do you want?"

"My name is Atlas. I represent a man who is very interested in meeting with you, Mr. Yoki." The voice said with a aura of professionalism.

Yoki's brow furrowed. "Does this boss of yours have a name?"

"All in good time. He'll want to introduce himself to you personally."

Yoki wasn't having that. "Alright Atlas or whatever your name is. I'm very busy at the moment and don't have time for this nonsense. So tell your 'mystery boss' that if he wants to-"

"Hm, not very friendly are you Mr. Yoki? And to think we went through all that trouble to get rid of your problem." Atlas chuckled on the other end.

Yoki stopped talking and narrowed his eyes. "What are you talking about?"

"That witness who can identify your man, he's out of the picture. In less than an hour McDougal should be receiving a body to dispose of. Without that witness, the DA has no case and you're home free. If you don't believe us then call McDougal and he'll confirm the drop off."

"…." Yoki was speechless.

"You still there?" Atlas sounded amused.

"Y-yes." Yoki stuttered. "When does your boss want to meet?"

 **OoO**

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 **OoO**

 **The plot thickens. Who is Atlas' boss? Don't worry the answer will come in the next few chapters.**

 **Having the guy in the trunk was a last second addition, but I'm so glad that I had that. Ed and Winry were getting along way too much.**

 **To be clear, Envy and Solaris aren't in a real relationship. It's more of a weird/crazy friends with benefits type. At least for now. Writing their scenes has been a lot of fun. Both of them are complete psychopaths and just compliment each other perfectly.**

 **For this story I've been juggling a bunch of characters and subplots. Princess Bride's chapters would sometimes feature multiple point of views but I've really been experimenting more with trying to fit multiple plots and characters into one story. Please tell me in your reviews if it's either going good so far or if I should tone it down.**

 **Please Review! I love your feedback.**


	10. Chapter 10

**Thank you guys so much for your reviews!**

 **Joker Oak:** To be fair, when has Ed ever listened to anyone? Izumi wasn't there threatening him with a knife so that probably made it easier for him. Ed and Izumi's relationship is slightly different than that in the show, with Ed being a lot older in this story. Also the one person who Ed truly has to answer to is Hohenheim. I'm glad you liked the trunk bit. Originally, the scene was going to end with Ed and Winry parting ways and then you find out that someone's in the trunk. I'm happy I changed it though. The Envy/Solaris relationship is going to lead to a lot of things. Interesting guesses on who the boss is.

 **SleepinBeautyK:** Just to clear, the guy in the trunk was a throwaway joke. Though, maybe it'll come back in the future; I haven't decided yet. I've wanted to include more scenes of mobster moments happening so I put some poor unfortunate soul in Ed's trunk.

 **Mother Of The Universe:** I'm also interested in figuring out how this story's going to come to together. It's nice to know that its working out so far. Its ok to ramble a bit, I enjoy long reviews. Another good guess on who Atlas' boss is. You have some arcs to look forward to. Ed and Al are going to go through some arcs, but I'm not sure if redemption is the right word to describe them. You're kind of right about Envy, but you also might be surprised. Ed and Winry's relationship has been one of the more challenging parts of this so far. In Princess Bride I had them fall in love by the end of Ch 1. Kingdom is my first attempt with trying to write a slow burn romance, so please tell me if I'm doing ok. I'm glad that you're wondering about who killed Winry's parents, keep an eye on that. Oh man, look who's rambling now.

 **bloodynessie:** You'll see.

 **Vhosek:** Trouble is definitely on the horizon. I like it when angst interrupts a moment of fluff, even if its funny angst.

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 **A hotel room in Eastern Central, early morning:**

"Where the fuck is he, Mustang?"

Roy Mustang let out an angry sigh as he listened to Olivier's outraged voice blasting through his phone. Hearing her overly aggressive voice shout at him was not how Roy imagined this morning starting off. Just moments prior, he'd been peacefully asleep until his blasted phone had started ringing. Apparently during the night, their key witness to bringing down Yoki Youswell had disappeared without a trace. The officers on duty had reported him missing around midnight.

"He's dead." Mustang responded grimly. He'd seen no evidence to support this, but it was obvious of what had happened.

According to Armstrong, they hadn't yet found a body, but they didn't need to. If a witness was missing for more than a few hours in this city, it meant that they were dead. Right now, what was left of that unfortunate person was no doubt disappearing in Isaac Mcdougall's Ice Box. Wherever that was.

"How did this happen?" Olivier was practically seething. "You said the Hohenheims wouldn't stick their necks out for a shit like Yoki."

"I did." Roy growled back. "Either I was wrong, or Yoki somehow found a way to get to the witness himself. No matter how you slice it, our case against him is dead in the water."

"Fuck!" He heard Olivier curse from the other end of the phone. Roy hesitated for a moment before he hung up. He didn't feel like trying to comfort the Impenetrable wall of Central and knew that she wouldn't want it. She'd probably call him a spineless weakling, or something demeaning like that. Mustang tossed his phone away in frustration and glared at his reflection in the hotel bathroom mirror. He heard the phone slam into the wall, but didn't care.

"Fuck a duck!"

They had been so close to nailing that weasley son of a bitch. So damn close!

Pulling himself together, Roy opened the door of the bathroom and slowly entered the main room. He gave a tired sigh before sitting down on the room's queen sized bed. After a few moments, Mustang felt the mattress shift under him as the bed's other occupant was roused from her sleep. Soon a naked arm wrapped around his bare midriff and the warmth of another person's body was against his back.

"Hmm, what's wrong Roy?" A sleepy voice sounded in his ear. No doubt his tense body language had given him away. Even in her tired and disheveled state, she could still read him like a open book.

Giving her arm a squeeze, Mustang turned his head to face the woman behind him. Only the current shitty situation could have prevented him from admiring the glorious sight of Riza Hawkeye naked. Her beautiful blond hair was out of its usual bun and hung down to her slender shoulders. He loved seeing her like that, out of uniform and perfectly natural.

"The garbage man who saw Yandell at the scene is dead." He said sullenly. He could feel Riza's body stiffen behind him. He sighed disheartedly; this had been her case as she was the one who had found the witness. Turning his body towards her completely, Mustang pulled Riza against him. "I'm so sorry Riza." He whispered into her ear.

Several moments passed before Mustang heard her give a tired sigh and leaned against him. "I'm fine." She said quietly. "It's part of the job. It's a part of _our_ job."

Roy ran a hand up and down her bare back, massaging the surprisingly soft skin there. "You okay?"

"Yeah." Riza gave a small, yet sad smile. "This was just a setback. We'll get them next time."

Roy sighed and leaned forward so that his forehead was pressed against her's. "Next time."

In Central there was no use crying over spilled blood. You had to pick yourself up and then keep going.

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 **Hohenheim Manor; several hours later:**

"So that's the entire situation?"

Van Hohenheim sat back in his chair behind his office desk. In front of him, his eldest son was explaining a current rising development in their city.

"Pretty much." Envy shrugged as he sat haphazardly in his own seat.

"And you're sure that Shou was the instigator?" Van questioned.

"So everyone at the Ouroboros claims." Envy said. "I'm sure Tucker would deny it. But I believe that four eyed shithead snatched that girl well before Solaris turned one of his guys into a meat toboggan. Besides, lying isn't really her thing."

"Indeed." Van drawled.

"So just to recap." Envy said. "Solaris is gearing up for an all out shit show while, from what I hear, Tucker's doing the same. But she's willing to lay down if Tucker gets crucified for this."

His father nodded before silently thinking for several moments. "I will hold a meeting with them in two days. Both Solaris and Shou will be reprimanded for disturbing the peace." Hohenheim always spoke like his words would be chiseled onto a rock. "I'll see to it that a suitable settlement can be reached."

Envy frowned. Both? "Wait, what did you mean by both Solaris and Shou?"

Van arched an eyebrow. "I mean that _both_ of them are responsible for the violence. Circumstances aside, Solaris still broke the peace that I spent years building and threatened to throw this city back into chaos with her actions."

"But she-"

"Oh I know. She didn't start it first, he did." Van allowed some condescension into his voice. "Edgar, that is the argument of squabbling children."

"Could you at least throw her some kind of a bone?"

"No." Hohenheim said.

"But she came to you for help."

"Solaris had you come to me for help, instead of coming herself. Had she the mind to do that before she escalated this situation I would have excluded her from any punishments." Hohenheim said. "It appears she in fact does not."

Envy let out a displeased breath, but held his tongue. His father was no doubt locked on this decision. The only person who could ever have surely changed his opinion was Tricia, but she had been dead for years. 'God rest her soul.' Envy thought briefly.

"Thank you for bringing this to my attention Edgar." His father said to him, snapping Envy out of his thoughts.

"No problem pops." Envy said quietly, standing up from his chair and fixing the leather jacket on his shoulders. He had hoped that this would have gone differently. He looked back at his dad, who seemed to have already forgotten that he was there.

"You know I always love to keep the peace." Envy smirked sarcastically. "By the way, do you have any pressing jobs for me? Last few days have been kinda boring."

"Not at the moment." Van said dismissively as he looked down at some documents on his desk. "I decided to let Edward handle the samaritan situation."

"Awww." Envy whined, his shoulders slacking. "I wanted that one."

"And I wanted the man to walk out of that parking garage alive." Van's golden eyes regarded his son for a moment. "We all have our uses, Edgar. Yours are of a special variety."

"Thanks for the compliment, dad." Envy pretended to wipe a fake tear. "I never knew you could be so touching." He didn't hide the sarcasm in his voice.

Van glanced again at the papers on his desk before looking back at his son. "Edgar, your childish nature is unbecoming. Your relationship with Solaris does not give her any special privileges. True, Shou was the instigator; yet she further escalated the situation. Both of them will be held accountable for their actions. She's not a member of this family and will be treated as such."

Envy held his father's gaze. "Yes sir." He said.

Van looked at his son's long green hair, leather jacket, and black skull shirt. He had long ago accepted what kind of person his unintended son had turned out to be. Had he been able to be there when Envy was born things could have been different.

'Edgar's nature would have been the same though.' Van thought. 'Nothing can change what a man truly is.' He then spoke to his son. "Edgar, while we're on the subject of relationships. I don't delude myself in believing that one day you'd settle down."

"That's what Ed and little Al are for." Envy added.

"But I must ask why her, of all women?" Van asked ignoring his son's previous statement.

"Of all the women in the world?" Envy repeated with a smirk. "Because she's the most fucked up. My kind of woman."

"...Indeed." Even after all these years Van still had difficulty trying to understand his eldest son.

Envy smirked at Hohenheim for a few seconds while his father looked blankly back at him. "So…Dad, if there's nothing more to-"

"You may go." Van sighed.

"Neat." Envy promptly turned towards the door.

Van watched his eldest son leave the room. There were very few things in his life that he had ever come to second guess. One of them had been accepting Edgar into his family. He brought that rough and vile child to live with his sons. Van had been hesitant to do so. Edward and Alphonse had been the ones he'd wanted. He could see Tricia in them.

He didn't know what he saw in Edgar. He'd nearly had the child thrown out of the estate four weeks in when he pulled a knife on his wife. That had been the moment when he had second guessed himself. But that vile child had been lucky enough to have Tricia. She forgave Edgar almost immediatly and had stopped him from casting the boy out. Tricia had alway known how to stop him.

" _You left that boy to survive by himself on the streets! The least you can do is be his father now."_

Of course he'd listened to her. Edgar had been a difficult child to raise so Van gave his irrational offspring to Izumi so that she could try to tame him. Now, Edgar, or Envy as he liked to be called, was grown up. Because of Tricia, he had three sons instead of two. A third son that wasn't even her's.

'Edgar, Edward, and Alphonse.' Van thought as he stared at the burning embers in the fireplace. "My children."

'And my legacy.'

Suddenly his cell phone rang.

Van took his phone out and answered it. A few minutes passed as he listened to what the caller had to say. After a few more moments he spoke.

"I'll send help."

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Downtown, after sunset:**

Scar got out of the black car. He had just received a phone call from Van telling him to handle an escalating situation. A city councilman, who had proven to be a very good ally to them, had just hit someone with a car and possibly killed him.

Scar had handled situations like this before. The councilman, whose name was Michael Bannon, obviously did not want his career to be ruined by any bad press caused by this scandal. Otherwise he would have done what anyone would have done and called the authorities. By calling the Hohenheims, the councilman made it abundantly clear that he wanted this whole thing to disappear. That was where Scar came in.

As Scar stepped out of the vehicle, his distinct red eyes scanned the area. Bannon's car was parked half a block away from him. A short distance from the councilman's car was the crumpled form of a body.

He gave the scene a once over before turning back to the three men whom he had brought with him.

"Talk to the residents." His gruff voice told them. "If they've seen anything, make sure they know the consequences of talking."

"Sure thing boss." The smallest of the three, a man named Dolcetto, said.

Scar turned around to face the councilman, reaching into his own car first. After pushing some miscellaneous stuff to the side, he found what he was looking for. Scar then made his way over to Bannon's car, now with a bottle of whisky in hand. Just in case the councilman needed a picker upper.

It was getting late out, and there was a chilly breeze starting to blow in. The cold, however, didn't faze the towering Ishvalan. He was currently dressed in the black suit, black dress shirt, and red tie, and long flowing black coat outfit that he had worn for the last twenty seven years. Scar couldn't help but look at the dark alleys which connected to the street. When he was a kid, he had lived in alleys like that, always cold and hungry.

And now here he was.

Scar walked up to the car and looked at the cringe worthy sight in front of him. Bannon was a middle aged man, slightly overweight with graying hair. The driver's door of his car was open with him sitting in the seat, his legs hanging out on the pavement. Bannon's face was in his hands as he leaned forward with his elbows resting on his legs.

"Councilman Bannon." He said, getting the man's attention.

The man jumped as if he'd been stabbed with a hot poker and looked up with startled eyes. Scar popped the cork off the top of the bottle and handed the whisky to Bannon who accepted it with shaking hands. The man's eyes darted to the large X shaped scar on his forehead. Scar hardly saw this. After a lifetime of people staring at his infamous scar, he'd grown numb to it.

"Thank you." Bannon mumbled as he started drinking, trying to calm his nerves and avert his eyes.

"Just sit right here, councilman." Scar told him, turning to look at the body. "We'll handle everything."

"Th-thank you." Bannon stuttered out. "And tell Mr. Hohenheim that I greatly appreciate this. It will not be forgotten."

"We know." Scar said, then mused to himself. 'It better not be. Or you'll be the one lying dead in the street.'

He pulled on some fitted leather gloves and started to make his way over to the body. Now it was time for him to identify the deceased and determine the next step. If it was someone who didn't have anybody who would raise a fuss about their sudden disappearance then Scar would take the body to MacDougal's. If this happened to be a person with caring loved ones, then the body would simply be tossed off an overpass and left there.

Tragic hit and runs happened all the time.

Scar stopped and kneeled down by the body to examine it. It was a middle aged man with gray clothes and a small pointed mustache. The man's face and clothes were bloodied from the hit. His forearm had a compound fracture with the bone poking through the skin. The rest of the limbs were twisted and his back was contorted. No doubt his spin had been snapped completely by the trauma of the collision. Scar reached into the man's pocket and pulled out a wallet.

The man's rather odd name was Mobuta Mobuo.

Scar took the license out and placed it next to him. He began to look through the rest of the man's wallet when he heard a quiet moan. Upon hearing this, Scar's movements came to a halt. His eyes glanced to the right to watch the man. The seemingly deceased corpse was still for a moment before his hand twitched. Mobuo was still alive.

There was a deep gash above Mobuo's swollen eye but Scar could clearly see that it was open and moving around. Finally, his frantic eye settled on Scar.

"H-H-Help me." Mobuo rasped out. His hand moving slightly as if to reach out to Scar for assistance.

"Calm down." Scar told the man.

Scar reached out his own hand and gave Mobuo's a gentle squeeze. After that, he swiftly reached out with both his large gloved hands and covered Mobou's mouth and nose.

Mobou's eyes widened as Scar's gloved hand clamped down on his mouth sealing it shut while the other pinched his nose, preventing him from breathing. He made weak muffled sounds of protest as he tried in vain to move his broken limbs to defend himself. Scar stared straight into Mobou's panicked eyes. He stared unflinchingly as he saw the fear overtake everything else. He'd seen that fear so many times. There was nothing personal about this. Scar received no pleasure from the man's suffering.

It was just business.

Mobou had tears pouring out of his eyes as his muffled cries became weaker and weaker. He tried to move his head in an attempt to get Scar's hands off of him. But it was to no avail. Scar continued to stare at the man until the muffled sounds ceased; the tears no longer fell; and eyes no longer saw.

Scar stood up. The wallet and driver's license lay next to the body as he walked away.

As he said, it was strictly business.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Farragut Street, 9:00 pm:**

'Jeez, I look like shit.'

Winry groaned as she looked into her bathroom mirror. It had been quite a day, practically 24 hours since her coffee trip with Edward Hohenheim. 24 hours since she heard the man trapped in his trunk and promptly responded by running away. Since then, she'd barely left her apartment or gotten much sleep.

She wasn't entirely sure why, though.

Winry had arrived home rattled the previous day. The whole walk home, Winry had been looking over her shoulder to see if there were any black limos or men dressed in black following her. There hadn't been, but she was rattled all the same.

She had seen the movies. Anytime someone was locked inside the trunk of a mobster's car, there was definitely something bad about to happen to them.

'I wonder what Elric even did to that guy?' She thought.

Thrown into the river with cement shoes? Shot in the back of the head execution style in some alley? Thrown off the top of a skyscraper? Legs broken by a baseball bat?

He could have done anything.

Winry let out a sigh and walked out of her bathroom. Dressed in a tank top and pajama shorts, she was ready to finally get some sleep. Despite that though, she couldn't help but continue to think about the previous day.

'It's not like it was completely out of character for him.' She thought as she walked to her room. 'I mean, he's a mobster, it's what they do.'

Then why was she so bothered?

'Maybe because I was starting to get comfortable around him.' Winry thought. 'I allowed myself to forget who exactly Edward was and then the guy in the trunk was like cold water being thrown in my face.' Winry finished her thought by flopping down on her bed. The soft blankets against her body were a brief pleasant distraction before the troublesome thoughts returned.

'How did my parents deal with it?' She sighed. 'They knew what Van Hohenheim was, hell, they helped him! Yet…they were the best parents I could have asked for.' Despite their apparent criminal past, Urey and Sara Rockbell had doted over her. At their funeral, dozens maybe even hundreds of people had approached Winry to give their condolences. They'd all spoken of the couple's kindness and compassion. Yet secretly her parents were involved with a crime lord like Van Hohenheim. Despite that though, they had lived perfectly normal lives.

How could normal people put up with this?

Having that chat in the coffee shop with him had been…nice. Elric had been irritating, but not unpleasant. 'When we weren't discussing our parents or film depictions of gangsters vs real life, he could have passed for a normal guy. But then again, my perception of normal is probably different from his.' Winry chewed her lower lip between her teeth.

At this rate she was going to give herself a migraine.

She remembered the card that was in her coat pocket. The very same card that Edward had given to her yesterday.

 _"You're a friend of the family. We don't abandon our friends." Elric had said. "If anyone ever gives you shit, just give me a call."_

Winry chew her upper lip before glancing at the phone on her bedside table. If there was anyone who she could talk to about this, it was _him_.

'Good job Winry.' She thought. 'Figure out the life of a freaky mobster by calling said freaky mobster.'

Sitting up on her bed, she hesitantly picked up her phone. Her coat was thrown over a chair that was within reach and Winry pulled out Elric's card. Before Winry knew what she was even doing, her fingers were typing his number in.

"Fuck it, you only live once."

As soon as she finished dialing it, Winry immediately started to question her decision.

'He doesn't know my number.' She thought. 'I can just hang up without saying anything and he won't know it's me.'

The phone beeped.

"..."

Silence. He wasn't talking.

She waited with baited breath for him to say anything. The distant sounds of cars could be heard. 'He must outside near a street' Winry realized. After a few moments, she realized why he was being quiet. He was waiting for her to identify herself. After all, it was a number that he had never seen before. Naturally he was going to be cautious with it. Winry was going to have to be the one to speak first.

"It's me." She said.

"Winry?" His voice finally came through. She was surprised that he knew the sound of her voice.

"I…uh." She felt her courage start to evaporate. What was she supposed to say?

"Are you in any trouble?" He asked after a moment.

"No, I…I'm fine. I'm not really sure why I'm calling." She admitted.

The noise of cars decreased, he must have moved indoors.

"Something had to make you call." He offered.

"I…I need to know something." She said.

"If it's about trunk-" Elric began with a sigh.

"No, not that." She said suddenly. "I want to know…how do you live like that?"

There was a pause. "Should I be insulted?" He asked.

Winry chewed her lip again; that was starting to become an annoying habit. "I don't think so." She offered weakly.

"Okay. Well, that's a bit of a loaded question." She heard him give a chuckle. "Anything specific? Hey, there aren't any federal agents secretly listening to this call are there?"

"What?" Winry brow furrowed. "No, of course not."

"Just checking."

Winry rolled her eyes. "Why would it even matter? I'm sure you could walk into a police station and shoot someone, and then still not get arrested."

"Even we have are limits Winry." She couldn't tell if he was being serious or not.

"Can you at least tell me what it's like?" She asked. "How do you do the things that you do and then still be able to sleep at night?"

Elric was silent for a moment, no doubt tossing the question back and forth in his mind. Winry wondered if he was going to answer, or just tell her to fuck off and then hang up. She didn't have to wonder for too long though.

"We just do." He said. "In our own ways we figure it out."

"What does that mean?"

Elric paused again. "Do you know anyone in the military?" He asked after a moment.

"Yes." Winry said, wondering why he was asking this.

"I know some old timers who were there for the Ishvalan Massacre." Elric continued. "Some in our side, some on the other. Now, I'm sure you know about the shit that went down there. I've talked to them about it. What's interesting is that some these people did terrible things, but they're not terrible people."

Winry nodded, encouraging him to continue, even though he couldn't see her.

"They were normal before they went to war, they did terrible things, and they came back different because of it. What they did could be defined by some people as evil. But there wasn't anything evil about them individually. They weren't born evil, but circumstances can make people do things that they wouldn't normally do. That's what happened with those soldiers I talked to." Elric continued. "Most made their peace with what they did and moved on with their lives. They go back to being regular people. It's kind of like that with us. We do what we do and we make our peace with it."

"You know there's a bit of a difference between soldiers and gangsters Edward." Winry said.

"I don't think so. Soldiers follow orders from their commanders and fight to defend their country. Well, my family is my country Winry. My father is my commanding officer. I follow his orders and do everything I can to protect my family."

Winry nodded, in a weird way that kinda made sense. "So anyway, back to what I was asking. How do _you_ make peace with it?" She asked.

"Everyone does it in their own way." He said. "Some make excuses, others ignore it. Me, I'm just used to it."

"Used to it?" She asked, her eyebrows raising up.

"I've lived my whole life doing this." Ed said. "I grew up being prepared by my father and my aunt to be the head of the family one day. They didn't hide the truth about what they did. They didn't hide the ugliness either. As a kid growing up I thought that since my dad was doing it then it must be okay. By the time I was adult…I guess that I was just desensitized to everything."

"Why are you telling me all this?" Winry asked quietly while listening attentively.

"Like you said yesterday, what could you do to us?" Elric chuckled. "And besides, I like talking to you. It's interesting"

Good thing they were on the phone because Winry felt her cheeks turn pink. "Thanks Edward." She gave a small smile, even though he couldn't see it.

"For what exactly?" He asked.

"Answering my question and not hanging up." She said.

"Hey I'm not a complete asshole." Elric said. "Despite it all."

There was a moment of silence following his words.

"Say, would you ever be up for coffee again-"

"Don't even think about it, Elric." Winry cut him off before hanging up.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **A bar in downtown Central:**

Ed was laughing as he lowered his phone. "Damn, that woman."

To say that he was surprised by her phone call was an understatement. He had been convinced he was never going to see or hear from her again, considering her reaction to the end of their previous meeting.

'Winry Rockbell, you continue to intrigue me.'

"What took you so long?"

Ed looked up to see Al, who waved at him from the bar.

Ed stepped away from the door that he had been standing at for the last few minutes. He walked past a busy pool game and sat next to his brother at the mostly empty bar.

"Hey." He said

"Hey to you." Al said back. "You looked like you had a fun phone call."

"Remember that Rockbell girl?" Ed said.

"Yeah."

"I think we had our third date by phone." Ed drawled sarcastically.

"Third? When was the second?" Al's eyes widened.

"Yesterday." Ed said. "We got coffee."

"Oh shit." Al said. "You really did have a date?"

"What? No." Ed turned to look at Al while motioning for the bartender to bring him his usual. "I was joking. I think she'd sooner suck Envy's dick then go on a legitimate date with me."

"Ah, so she's repulsed by you like any sane woman would be." Al chuckled.

"No, _she_ wouldn't have called me if she was repulsed." Ed said thoughtfully. "She can bear my vocal presence so she must like at least like aspects of me."

"Am I invited to the wedding?" Al said cheekily, taking a drink.

"You're the best fucking man." Ed drawled.

Al arched an eyebrow. "So Winry Rockbell may or may not like you. But what do you think of her?"

Before Ed could answer, the door to the bar was kicked open.

"What's up you bastards?"

"You invited him?" Al asked dryly.

"The three of us haven't had a night of drinking in a while." Ed responded before glancing over his shoulder at Envy. "Speak for yourself, bastard."

Al glanced over at their approaching older brother and gave him a small hand wave. Envy grabbed a stool and slammed it down between Ed and Alphonse. Al rolled his eyes as Envy sat down and pulled the two of them close so that all their heads were right next to each other.

"Look at us boys." He said. "It's been too long." He then released his two brothers.

"Heard you had a meeting with dad earlier today?" Ed asked.

"Is that the first time you've been home in three months?" Al said as he took a swig of his drink.

"I've been busy." Envy grinned "Besides, Dad certainly wasn't going to come to me." Ed glanced at his older brother when he caught the scent of alcohol.

"Are you already pissed drunk?" He asked.

"Probably." Envy responded.

"Why are you here then?" Al asked.

"To see my two baby brothers." Envy's crooked grin turned to face Al. "Don't tell me you didn't miss me, little Ally."

"So what's the verdict on Solaris' and Tucker's pissing contest?" Ed said suddenly to stop this interaction from becoming hostile. "Is the old man gonna step in?" He asked with a chuckle.

"More or less." His green haired brother grumbled.

"Ah, I guess your relationship didn't garner any sympathy from the king."

Envy shook his head and scoffed. "There's that word again. Dad said the same thing; _relationship_. Solaris and I aren't in a-"

"WHOO!"

Envy was cut off by someone at the pool table sinking a ball and whooping at the top of his lungs. Their green haired brother briefly glanced over his shoulder to glare at the guy before turning back.

"Relationship." He finished.

Ed chuckled again while Al rolled his eyes. "Oh yeah, you just occasionally have kinky, and possibly masochistic, sex every once and awhile." Al said.

"Exactly." Envy grinned at his younger brother. "At least someone unders-"

"WHOO!"

"Now that's just getting damn annoying." Envy looked over his shoulder again.

"That douche has been doing that for the last three games." Al grimaced.

"Please don't tell me Dad brought up the idea of _you_ settling down?" Ed asked with a slight wince, as if that very concept was painful for him to imagine.

Envy shrugged and leaned back into his chair. "I think the old man wants some grandkids. You two pussies should really get on that, or should I say _into_ that." He then chuckled at his own bad joke.

Al and Ed glanced at each other.

"Remember how nice it was before he showed up?" Ed asked.

"To what exactly?" Al responded. "The bar or our lives?"

"Either one works." Ed shrugged.

"Fuck you guys too." Envy started chugging the drink that had been placed in front of him. Al and Ed just watched him.

"He's going to die." Al said nonchalantly. "He's going to drink himself to death right here in front of us."

"Hey, En." Ed carefully reached out to take the glass away from him. "I think that's enough."

"Suck a cock Ed." Envy said. "I can-"

"WHOO!"

Envy's mouth formed a small irritated line. His forehead twitched a little as he moved the glass away from his lips. He placed the drink down. "Here have the drink." He reached over the bar to grab a small shot glass. "I'll be needing this though." He stood up.

"What's he doing?" Al asked as they watched their brother walk away.

"Shit!" Ed jumped off of the stool to go after him.

Before Ed could reach Envy, he'd already gotten to the pool player.

Envy kicked the man in the back of the leg causing him to fall to one knee. Envy grabbed the back of the man's hair and yanked it violently. The man cried out, leaving his mouth wide open. His cry was cut off by Envy shoving the shot glass into his mouth. Envy quickly spun the man around and uppercutted him.

The muffled sound of glass shattering could be heard before the man's garbled screams sounded throughout the bar. The man fell onto his back, blood pouring from his mouth. Everyone was frozen in horror.

"Please." Envy said calmly as he looked down at the agonized man. "Shut the fuck up."

He turned to see Ed staring at him with a glare. "What?" He asked.

"You son of a bitch!"

One of the man's friends came charging at Envy with a pool stick in his hands. Ed could see Envy smirk and a switch blade was suddenly in his hand.

"Oh hell no." Ed muttered, springing into action to prevent the small massacre from starting. Throwing himself between the two of them, Ed grabbed the friend's pool stick mid swing in one hand and grabbed Envy's shoulder with the other one.

"Enough!" Ed shouted at Envy before turning towards the very pissed off man with the pool stick. "Right now I think your friend needs your attention more than this asshole."

The man's scowl only deepened and he moved to pull the stick from Ed's grip. Behind him, Edward could see what must have been the rest of pool man's friends advancing towards them. 'I tried to be diplomatic.' Ed thought before releasing Envy and reaching into his own jacket. He pulled out a silver Beretta 92F and leveled it at pool stick guy's face. The man immediately froze and went deathly pale. Ed's eyes were a cold glare.

"Get your friend and get out. There's a hospital five blocks away going north." Ed spoke in a voice that left no room for argument.

The group of men instantly fled the building, carrying their wounded friend with them. As they passed Alphonse, he held a card out for them. "This number will connect you with our lawyer. He'll help with any hospital expenses."

"Fuck you man!" The pool stick guy scowled as he held the door open for his bleeding friend.

Ed watched them leave before sliding his gun back in its holster and turning to face Envy.

"I'm not a fan of the way you're looking at me right now." Envy smirked. Ed held back the urge to punch his brother in the face. Al came back from the door.

"You're a sociopath." Al growled.

"And?" The elder Elric brother drawled.

"Mr. Hohenheims." The bartender said with a lot of restraint, looking at Ed and Al. "I'd appreciate it if you get _him_ out of here."

"Sure, Tom." Ed muttered before grabbing some bills from his wallet and tossed them onto the bar. "Sorry for the trouble."

Each brother grabbing an arm, they dragged Envy outside.

"What are we gonna do with you?" Al sighed as they stepped onto the sidewalk outside the bar.

"Hey, he'll probably live." Envy defended, pushing himself away from them. "He may have to eat his remaining meals through a straw, but at least he'll probably live."

Envy looked at Ed. "By the way, how'd your date with the Rockbell chick go?"

Ed gave a sigh, "How the fuck do you know about that?"

"Jerso told me." Envy answered.

"So you admit it was a date." Al smiled.

"Fuck both of you." Ed muttered, looking between them.

"So how was your date with her?" Al asked Edward. "She know anything about what her parents and dad were up to?"

"She knew even less than I did." Ed answered, choosing not to tell his brothers about how Winry's dad had saved theirs. Hearing about his father almost dying didn't sit very well with Ed, nor would it well with his brothers. Also he knew if he told them about the trunk incident neither of them would lever let him live it down.

"So…you bang her?" Envy asked.

"Fuck you." Ed responded.

"As fun as it is to stand here and talk about Ed's unsuccessful trysts, I'd like to get away from this place." Al said as he directed them towards a black limo parked on a sidewalk.

"Hey Envy, how did you get here by the way?" Ed asked, glancing around for another car.

"Hitchhiked." Envy grinned.

As the two older brothers bantered, Al felt his phone vibrate in his pocket. The others didn't really pay attention as Al took the device out and answered it. "Hello?"

"Where the hell did you even come from tonight?" Ed asked. "You're fucked even for your standards."

"I was just catching up with some old friends?" Envy said. "And before you ask, yes they're actual friends and no I didn't hurt any of them. By the way, how fuckable was the Rockbell chick?"

Ed looked over at him with a small frown and sighed. "If you weren't drunk, I'd have probably dropped you by now."

"Remember the last time you tried that?" Envy smirked.

"Hey guys." Al said catching bother their attention.

"Did either of you know that Ling has a sister?"

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

Less than half an hour later, all three Hohenheim sons were seated in front of their father's desk. They were joined by Ling Yao and Greed, who was standing next to Hohenheim. Greed stiffened upon seeing Envy, but didn't do more then lightly glare at the man who'd once stabbed him with a fountain pen. Envy gave him a wink. Ed looked over and was pleased to see that Lyra was there.

Lyra Rial was a young woman who acted as an assistant to both his father and occasionally to Greed. She had short black hair that hung around her face and purple eyes. He gave her a smile of acknowledgement, which she returned. It was nice to see her again. She'd been out searching for Greed's buyer. It seemed like she had finally found a suitable candidate.

The silence was broken by Van. "During Gregory's search for a suitable supplier, he came across a certain name rather quickly: May Chang."

Ed glanced at Ling just in time to see the look at shock register on his face. Apparently he was being kept in the dark too.

"What?" Ling questioned.

"Is that name familiar to you, Mr Yao." Van asked.

"It's…she's my sister." Ling said quietly.

"She's also the most successful and powerful drug manufacturer and trafficker on the East coast." Greed said, giving Ling a look. "I would have wished you'd have brought her to my attention weeks ago, could have saved me some time."

"Hey she's only my half sister." Ling said, folding his arms. "Last time I saw the brat was fifteen years ago. She was only ten."

"Half sibling, huh?" Envy chuckled. "I can relate."

Alphonse leaned forward in his chair. "So is May Chang the dealer that we're going to be doing business with?"

Greed nodded. "Yes, if Edward and…Edgar can convince her that is."

Ed had so far remained silent and chose now to speak. "If she's so successful as you say then how come she isn't selling anything in Central. Seems like she could turn in a good profit here."

"Oh believe me, she's tried." Greed smirked. "But she's been too afraid to make any kind of move on Central because of us."

Ed nodded, starting to understand. "So we give her what she's always wanted and in return we get a share of the profits. Is that it?"

"More or less." Hohenheim spoke.

"Alright!" Envy proclaimed rather loudly as he swayed in his chair. "So when's our little pow wow with Ms. Chang happening?"

"At the end of the week." Van spoke, his fingers crossed in front of him. "Gregory has made all of the arrangements."

"Where's the meeting taking place?" Ed asked.

"A docking yard near the outskirts of town. It was only place she'd agree to meet us." Gregory informed him.

Ed nodded. "Rather cliched, but suitable I guess."

"I like it." Envy said, smirking widely.

Hohenheim paused for a moment to look Envy up and down before sighing.

"Edward, once Edgar sobers up, do make sure he retains everything that we have spoken off tonight." He said.

"All I can say is I'll try." Ed responded.

Hohenheim nodded and leaned back into his chair, wordlessly announcing that this meeting was coming to an end. Everyone quickly moved at once to exit the room in a orderly fashion. Ed waited a few seconds before standing up himself.

"Not you."

Ed spun on his heel and met his father's gaze.

"Yes?"

"Sit down." Van's face gave no sign as to what he wanted.

"What did I do this time?" Ed sighed as he took a seat directly in front of his father.

"Nothing." Van spoke haphazardly as he examined several documents in front of him. "It's just come to my attention that you've become acquainted with Winry Rockbell."

Ed's mouth opened in surprise before turning into a frown as he remembered what his Aunt had said to him. 'Dear god, am I about to be lectured _again_?'

Deciding to test the waters, Ed shrugged and spoke nonchalantly. "Yes, I did."

When Hohenheim merely arched an eyebrow in response, Ed gave a sigh. Here we go again.

"Let me guess, you made a promise to her dead dad and I must absolutely respect it, otherwise I'll curse the family name or something like that. I already got the runaround from Izumi." Edward leaned back into his chair.

Van stared at him silently for several moments before shaking his head. "No I wasn't going to tell you that, Edward."

Ed let out a sigh of relief.

"Because unlike your Aunt, I know you better and have far less faith that you'll actually listen." Van monotoned.

"...Well gee, thanks." Ed grumbled before looking his father in the eye. "So why did you bring her up then?"

Hohenheim leaned forward in his chair. "I know that Ms. Rockbell came to you for assistance, how did she convince you to help her?"

Ed frowned. "Why do you care?"

Something flashed in Van's eyes. "Tell me Edward."

Ed shifted in his chair before speaking. "Winry approached me, explained her situation, and asked if I could lend her a hand. Out of the goodness of my heart, I agreed to."

Hohenheim seemed to mull Edward's words for several moments before closing his eyes. "Alright. Just one more question, Edward."

"Yes?" Ed raised an eyebrow.

"I know that you and Miss Rockbell have met twice, do you intend on seeing her again?"

"Don't know." Ed responded before frowning. "Are you asking if I'm planning on sleeping with her or anything?"

Hohenheim seemed to glare at his second eldest son, which confused Ed. His question hadn't triggered this reaction from his father. He'd seen it building up very subtly throughout their talk…a slight frustration.

Now Ed knew for a fact that he and especially Envy were a very common frustration for their father. But Hohenheim had always been a master of hiding it from his face. It was once in a blue moon for any type of reaction to grace itself upon his father's usually grim features. So it was strange that this conversation was eliciting such a response.

"You may go now Edward." His father said.

Ed didn't object and was quickly out the door.

'The hell was that?' He thought.

What stuck out to him was his father's interest in how Winry convinced him to help her. What was he even curious about?

'You'd think he would ask how the daughter of an old friend of his is doing.' Ed thought as he walked down the carpeted hallway of the mansion with his hands in his pockets. 'Instead he was coming at it like Winry was up to something. Is the old man really that paranoid?'

"So what did he want to talk to you about?" A familiar voice cut through his thoughts.

Ed stopped and looked to the side to see Lyra leaning against the wall. She was dressed in dark grey suit and smiling at him mischievously.

"It was a personal matter." Ed responded with a shrug. "Nothing much."

"Personal huh?" Lyra pushed off the wall and walked over to him. "Thats a rarity."

"Yeah, I know." Ed chuckled before looking fully at her face. "How are you doing Lyra?"

Lyra had started working for his father for about six years at this point. During that time the two of them had gotten to know each other quite well, and Ed considered her a good friend.

The dark haired girl shrugged. "I'm tired. I've been traveling up and down the East Coast for weeks trying to find a suitable candidate that would satisfy Gregory."

"I'd rather not imagine you _satisfying_ Greed." Ed said with an exaggerated shudder prompting Lyra to playfully elbow him in the chest.

"Oh shut up, like I'd ever do anything like that with him."

"How do you think I got this far?" Ed asked, waggling his eyebrows. "Pure nepotism?"

This caused Lyra to burst into laughter while Ed watched her with a smile. Although he thought Lyra was a very attractive woman, and they would occasionally flirt with each other, he doubted anything would ever happen between them. Their relationship was too close to a brother and sister for anything sexual to complicate it.

"Oh, I've missed you Ed." Lyra finally stopped laughing. "So tell me, what did I miss during my weeks way?"

"Well..."

Back in the office, Hohenheim stared silently at the burning wood in his fireplace. As he did so, he thought back to the time that he'd been brought to the Rockbell house with a gun wound. He remembered it mostly because that had been the last time he had ever spoken to Urey Rockbell. Van also remembered the deal the two of them had made.

" _I want you to have it."_

'And you did take it. Is that why you and Sara were murdered? Because I gave _it_ to you?' Van asked the unknown. 'Does Winry now have it now?'

The unknown gave no reply.

 **OoO**

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 **Meanwhile:**

Bald had not been having a good couple of days. But so far this was certainly an improvement.

He placed a cigarette into his mouth with his remaining hand. His automail arm had been confiscated as a deadly weapon when he was arrested. With any luck he'd be getting it back soon. But probably not.

Reaching his hand down into his pocket, he pulled a lighter out and lit the cigarette. Taking a deep breath, Bald inhaled the nicotine before wincing. His jaw was still sore from when the cops had kicked the shit out of him several days earlier.

"That asshole better have some answers." Bald grumbled under his breath as he glanced at the police station behind him. He'd been held there for the last several days and only now had his 'employer' paid his bail. He enjoyed the peace of the burning cigarette in his mouth for a moment before stepping away from the wall and walked off.

His footsteps scraped against the beat up pavement in the parking garage. Bald traveled through the abandoned lot until he came across A2 painted in yellow against a pillar. He stopped in front of it and stood there. Now all he had to do now was wait for them to show up. Any other man probably would have been concerned about a double cross, but Bald wasn't terribly worried for his life. If they'd wanted him dead they'd have hired some sneaky little shit guy to slit his throat while was asleep. Those were the kind of people that he was now involved with. Since he was still alive, there had to be a reason for it.

Bald took the cigarette out of his mouth and breathed, the smoke momentarily clouding his vision. As the smoke cleared the headlights of a car suddenly lit up the area as it came up the ramp of the entrance.

He tossed his cigarette onto the ground before the vehicle came to a stop in front of him. Bald didn't even wait for the car to halt completely before he quickly ripped open the door and got in.

"Ya think yous a funny man, Voyager?" He asked the man sitting across from him as he seated himself. "Or do I call ya Atlas? What the fuck is it?

"Atlas." The man's green eyes gleamed back at him.

"Ya feel like ya have the weight of the world on yar shoulder?" Bald asked as he grabbed a bottle of whiskey that was in a cup holder next to him.

"I certainly help with managing it." Atlas shrugged. There was a moment of silence as Atlas watched Bald struggle at opening a bottle with one hand.

"You want any help?" He asked.

"Fuck ya." Bald grumbled, placing the bottle between his thighs and holding it there as he tried to get the cork off. "Ya said nothing about me getting my ass kicked."

"You're a big boy, Bald." Atlas said. "Did they hurt hurt your feelings?"

Bald would have growled threateningly, but he held it back. The man next to was dangerous and not one to be trifled with.

"They took my fucking arm." Bald complained instead, slapping his empty metal port. "What the fuck am I supposed to do about that?"

"Don't worry about it." Atlas smirked. "You're next arm is going to be even better than your first. I can promise that"

"Do ya mind telling me what ya want me to do now?" Bald asked, giving up on the bottle. "Any others blondes who you want me to harass?"

"In good time." Atlas answered. "Your actions on Farragut street have helped us with getting a meeting with Yoki Youswell. My employer is very pleased by this and has plans for you." He reached over and snatched the bottle. Quickly opening it and then handing it back to Bald, Atlas leaned back into the leather of his seat.

"In the meantime." Atlas said. "Just sit back and enjoy yourself."

 **OoO**

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 **Yes, Bald was indeed hired by Atlas' mysterious boss to harass Winry. The plot thickens even more.**

 **For all those who were hoping that this chapter would give the identity of Atlas' boss, I apologize. But don't worry, next chapter will have the big reveal. A lot of you have made some very good guesses and I'm curious to see who else you think it might be.**

 **What do think Van was thinking about at the end? What did he give to Urey at the end of chapter one?**

 **(By the way, I am not trying to compare the actions of soldiers to the actions of gangsters. That is just how Edward views the world.)**

 **Please Review! I love feedback!**


	11. Chapter 11

**Joker Oak:** You're right. The plot of getting Ed and Winry together does have a bigger significance to the story. Someone wanted the two of them to meet for a specific reason. Hopefully this chapter will answer some questions, but I'm afraid that it's also going to raise some more. With the scene involving Ed pointing the gun at the guy, no one in the bar is going to testify or report it. Many may hate the Hohenheims but they're too afraid to do anything. Btw, at least one of your predictions involving Hohenheim and the Rockbells is correct, I'm impressed. As for your prediction on who Atlas' boss is, you'll see at the end of the chapter if you were right.

 **LoveroftheWord:** Thanks!

 **Mother Of The Universe:** It's going to be quite a few chapters before you find out what 'it' is, so don't hold your breath for too long. I'm glad you enjoyed the Envy scene, I have a lot of fun writing for him. Especially with scenes involving Ed or Solaris. I actually base the banter between Ed and Envy off of how my brother and I interact. It's way less violent though.

 **Frankensnow:** I love finding new readers, thank you for giving my story a chance. I'm also glad that you and other people are starting to wonder what "it" is. I hope you enjoy the rest of the story.

 **Vhosek** : I like stories that answer questions while simultaneously raising more. I'm glad the phone conversation came out good, I had had to rewrite that scene so many times to make it work. I was trying to find the right them being friendly towards each other and them being acquaintances, which is sort of what they are to each other. I wouldn't go so far as to say they're friends at this point. But I'm sure that's going to change eventually.

 **Hirude:** Thank you. Its always great to have a new reader.

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 **Dominic's Automail shop. 10:32 a.m:**

"Oh my god, he's so adorable!" Winry squealed loudly as she looked down at the photograph in her hand.

Dominic merely responded with a grunt; too preoccupied with work to watch his two assistants gushing over a picture of his new-born grandson.

"Awww look how tiny his hands are." Paninya was leaning over Winry's shoulder to get a better look. "He looks just like his parents."

"Speaking of his parents." Winry chuckled and glanced at her boss. "How's Satella doing?"

"She's fine." Dominic spoke, not taking his eyes off the half-constructed metal hand in front of him. "My son on the other hand…damn fool's gonna drive himself into an early grave if he doesn't calm down."

"He's just nervous." Winry said with a smile. "All new fathers are like that." While she was distracted, Paninya snatched the picture away.

"I wasn't." Dominic muttered unconvincingly.

Winry laughed and folded her arms across her chest. "Oh, I'm sure you weren't."

Dominic finally looked up from his work. "Don't you have a project to complete?"

"Already did it." Winry clasped her hands behind her back and beamed proudly. "I just finished it this morning."

The elderly mechanic raised an eyebrow. "You re-designed the supports?"

"Yep."

"And strengthened the outer shell?"

"Yep." Winry tried to maintain a modest grin.

Dominic gave a small nod, the universal signal that he was impressed. "Good job Rockbell." He then glanced behind her. "Paninya, get back to work on that engine."

Paninya had been so enthralled by the image of the sleeping infant that her boss' loud voice caused her to jump. "Yes Dominic." She said quickly and moved to give him back the picture.

"Keep it." Dominic said, once again focused on the hand in front of him. "My daughter-in-law already made about thirty copies of that."

Winry laughed at the joyous look on Paninya's face and turned to walk back to her own workbench. Entering the backroom, she did a survey of the work space. 'Hhmm, this place could use a fixer upper.' Various metal bits, nuts and bolts, oil buckets, and tools were strewn about. 'Damn, I'm so glad Dominic hasn't seen this.' Winry sighed. 'He'd probably cut my pay just on principle.'

She got to work organizing and storing everything to its proper place. Since she didn't have any other projects to work on, Winry could devote the rest of the day to this. Briefly she wondered if Dominic would let her out early. 'Well it doesn't really matter how late I stay. I don't have to wake up at the crack of dawn.' Winry thought happily to herself as she worked.

Since she no longer had to pay blood money to Bald, Winry didn't need to work two jobs. So she had quit her job at Mr. Stoddard's diner and could now focus solely on automail. She felt kinda bad about leaving because Mr. Stoddard had always been nice to her. But it was time to get back on track and keep moving forward.

That thought caused Winry to let out a pained sigh.

'It took me five years to get all of that money.' She thought mournfully. 'Time to start from square one.'

For the last few years Winry had wanted to open her own automail shop. She loved working with Paninya and Dominic, but she couldn't stay there forever. After five years of hard work and determination, Winry had finally saved enough money to buy her own shop. However it seemed like fate had a cruel taste of irony as not long after, her grandmother Pinako Rockbell died from a sudden stroke. In that very instant Winry's world had come crashing down around her. Pinako had been more than just her grandmother; she'd also been her mentor, teacher, and surrogate parent. She'd supported Winry every step of the way through her years of engineering school. She was the one who had gotten Winry her job at Dominic's automail shop. But now she was gone.

Immediately, all of Winry's plans had been put on hold. As Pinako's only living relative, she was the one who planned and paid for the funeral. Soon it wasn't just funeral costs that were piling up. Upon looking into her grandmother's financial situation, Winry discovered that the old woman had accumulated a large amount of debt. Since Pinako was gone, the debt collectors came after Winry. Soon almost all of the money that she had spent years building up was soon gone in order to pay all the debts.

Penniless and left with no other choice, she returned to being Dominic's assistant automail mechanic. That same week was also when Bald's gang first showed up on Farragut street, and the rest as they say is history.

'It's gonna take a lot of hard work, but nothing's going to stop me this time.' Winry thought determinedly as she finished arranging all of her wrenches from smallest to largest. 'Least of all some wannabe pirate with automail.' Stepping back from the workbench, Winry glanced at the progress she'd make. All of the tools had been placed back into their appropriate spot, all of the oil cans back onto the shelves.

"Nice." She said to no one in particular with her hands resting on her hips. The sound of metal clanging and cursing caught Winry's attention. 'Sounds like Paninya is back to work.' She smiled before frowning slightly and reaching into her pocket. Pulling her hand out, Winry looked down at a card with the phone number and printed name of Edward Hohenheim.

'I wonder what he's doing right now?' Winry thought. 'Is he breaking some guy's kneecaps or does he have actual hobbies?' She paused to imagine Edward Hohenheim doing something mundane like stamp collecting. A moment later she burst into laugher. 'No, no he is definitely not a stamp collector.'

She didn't know what exactly to do with the card now, and had simply decided to carry it with her. She didn't even know if she would ever use it again. Suddenly, the cost of buying her own automail shop came to mind along with the promise he had made to her.

 _In case you find yourself in a really 'unfortunate' situation, you can always reach out to me._

She seriously doubted that he'd consider her not having enough money to start her own shop an unfortunate situation. And as he had pointed out himself, she liked to do things her own way.

So far Winry hadn't told anyone about her and Edward's coffee get together, the trunk man, or the following phone call. She didn't want to deal with the headache she'd get from Paninya and Sheska.

'I don't know if they would freak out, or ask me for the juicy details.' Winry thought with a roll of her eyes.

'I wonder if I'll ever see him again?' Winry thought. At the end of their call he'd jokingly started to ask her out for coffee again. 'At least I hope he was joking.' She chuckled to herself as she put the card away and got back to work.

 **OoO**

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 **Hohenheim Manor. 6:27 p.m:**

'Well isn't this a family reunion.'

Edward leaned against the wall of his father's throne room. The lights were dimmed as per usual and the King was seated at his throne. Before him sat the quarreling nobles who had rudely brought chaos to the kingdom. To his right, Solaris sat up straight on one side of table, her body was tense and looked ready to strike out at anything that dared to move. On her right sat a pretty brunette who Ed recognized as Solaris' secretary and assistant. To her left sat her obese half brother whose nickname was Gluttony. Solaris wasn't wearing one of her usual dresses; no, Solaris would never dress so scantily in front of Hohenheim. That wasn't professional. Instead she wore a magenta jacket that was Xingese in design and black same level of professionalism, however, wasn't applied to the man across the table whmo Solaris was staring at with a burning rage.

No matter how many times Ed would see him, there was always something about Shou Tucker that made his skin crawl.

At first glance, Tucker was not a very intimidating man. He was rather short, wore glasses and looked more like an accountant than a criminal. However, that unassuming appearance hid one of the most feared and depraved men in Central. Tucker owned many brothels around the city and had plenty of manpower. His establishments were like honey for all manners of perversions and depravities. Apart from being the biggest pimp in Central, Tucker's reputation was that of a man with no empathy or conscious. Whores who tried to run would fine themselves mutilated and violated beyond recognition. Patrons who caused trouble in any of Tucker's establishments could either receive a vicious beating or partial castration.

Now the real part that sent shivers down Ed's spine were the rumors surrounding Tucker's family. Several years prior, Tucker's wife and daughter mysteriously vanished without a trace. No bodies were found, yet Shou hadn't been fazed at all. He just went right back to work with no explanation as to where his family could be. Everyone knew that he'd killed them, but where was the proof?

Well, not long after Mrs. Tucker and their 4 year old daughter Nina had mysteriously vanished; Ed had found himself in one of Shou's establishments. He'd been there purely for business reasons, as he had to warn Tucker against building a new house in a certain neighborhood. But while he was waiting for Tucker to receive him, he found himself drawn to Tucker's stuffed collection. One of Shou's favorite hobbies was taxidermy and many of his buildings were decorated with his work. The stuffed carcass that Ed had seen was that of a rather unnatural looking big white dog. As he'd observed it, Ed could have sworn that the frightened eyes of a little girl were staring back at him. Ever since then, he'd never set one foot back into any of Tucker's establishments.

So yeah, Edward wasn't particularly happy to be in the same room as Shou Tucker.

The other men in the room were not nearly as unpleasant.

Tucker and Solaris hadn't been the only ones to catch the displeasure of his father. As both of them had been building up for war, they each had called in allies. While his father was greatly displeased with those who caused a disturbance, he was equally displeased by those who allowed the disturbance to grow. Around the table sat several more prominent figures in the Central underworld: Father Cornello, Frank Archer, Flynn Mugear, Kent Majhal, and Yoki Youswell.

Yoki had been sending Edward periodic glares ever since the little man had entered the room. Seemed like he was still pissed over Farragut Street. Ed wasn't surprised to see him here. Yoki and Tucker had been longtime friends. Ed glanced away from him to the other men at the table.

Father Cornello was the bishop of Central. He was a tall, slightly portly, balding man in his mid fifties. In between his service to the lord, Cornello had a second job as one of the city's most prominent arms dealers. Ed often wondered how the city would react if people realized that the Cathedral's basement was hiding a military grade armory.

"Better than being a pedophile I guess.' He thought.

Cornello looked to be rather impatient for this meeting to be over. He had one hand tucked under his chin while the other tapped its fingers on the table. 'Does he have a hot date or something?' Ed thought. His father liked to make people wait, it got them on edge and aggravated them. A simple tactic, but it worked.

Cornello's biggest competitor, and also seated at the table, was Frank Archer. Archer was younger with dark hair and a pale face. Before becoming a gun runner, he'd been a former colonel in the military. A near fatal injury had left him with an automail arm and leg. Right now, Ed could see the shining metal peeking out under Archer's glove. For some reason it made him think about Winry.

'Am I going to get more 'research' inquiries on the life of a gangster?' He mused to himself before turning back towards the table. It seemed like the meeting was finally getting under way. Hohenheim, who'd been silently talking to Lyra, turned to face the table. Immediately all whispers and conversations went silent. The king was about to speak.

"You all know why you're here. There's no point of trying to divert blame onto anyone but yourselves." His sharp golden eyes seemed to be simultaneously staring everyone in the eye at once. They settled between Tucker and Solaris.

"While two of you hold more responsibility than others, the rest of you certainly did not discourage this escalation." His monotone continued. "Escalation does not happen in this city."

No one at the table said anything. They were all quiet.

Hohenheim turned to Tucker.

"It is tempting to punish only you." He said. "The catalyst of this transpired when your men abducted and raped Emma Phillips." Like Edward, Hohenheim absolutely despised rape so it seemed like the odds were stacked against Tucker.

Tucker's face remained emotionless, however his eyes slid from the table to gaze at Solaris. The woman had already been glaring at him and when his cold eyes met her heated ones, she practically growled.

"Look at me." Hohenheim ordered.

Tucker's eyes slithered from Solaris to look at Hohenheim.

"How would you explain your men's actions?" Hohenheim asked. Ed watched this carefully, examining the various faces sitting at the table. Across the room, he could see Lyra doing the same. His father was testing Tucker at the moment. Judging the man's body language, determining what was going through the bespeckled man's head. Hohenheim had a gift for picking apart a person's thoughts by just talking to them. Ed had yet to master this ability. Al was better at it, but had far less of a use for it. Envy didn't care what was going on in someone's head because usually that person wasn't going to have a head for very long.

'Hopefully I can at least pretend to master it for the upcoming meeting with May Chang.' Ed thought as Tucker began speaking.

"Well." The bespectacled man started in his eerie, quiet voice. "I'd say it was a misunderstanding."

"Fucker!"

Tucker slowly turned his head to once again look at Solaris, who was almost standing up in her chair. His face didn't change and he didn't say a word.

"Bailey." Hohenheim warned, hardly needing to even raise his voice.

Solaris hesitated for a moment but moved back into her seat, yet the seething look of hatred was still directed at Tucker.

"Oh, where was I?" Tucker began speaking again. "Ah yes. I believe this to have been a dramatic misunderstanding, at least on the part of my associates." He paused dramatically for a moment. Ed knew it was purely meant to piss off Solaris. "Now my associates encountered Miss Phillips outside of one of my establishments. They must of taken her for one of my many employees, understandable given the way that she was dressed. Miss Phillips willingly entered the establishment with my associates and left about an hour later. Now as to the nature of what transpired between them, that is inherently private. However, I have several corroborating witnesses stating that they saw Miss Phillips enter one of the rooms with my associate. I believe your own men have heard from these witnesses, but I will repeat that they saw Miss Phillips willingly enter the room. Some even said that she was…passionately moving my associate in."

Ed looked over at Solaris, whose face hadn't changed.

"Now there was a time." Tucker continued. "When Miss. Phillips left the room, leaving my associate alone. Later she came back to continue their recreational activity. Long after they finished and she had left, that the foreman of said establishment discovered that a sizable amount of money had been stolen from the patrons. I am not accusing Miss Phillips of any wrongdoing. I am just saying that it is curious that my associate, who could have given a testimony that could have enlightened us further is missing." His gaze now moved to Solaris. "All this could make a curious man believe that Miss Philips infiltrated my establishment to rob its patrons and concocted lies to silence the man who could have exposed her."

Ed quickly glanced at Solaris to gauge her reaction. If looks could kill, Tucker would be dead a billion times over. Pure, unadulterated rage flowed liked flames from Solaris' eyes. Her body was tense and coiled like a serpent waiting to strike.

Edward had to admit that he felt a bit of sympathy for Solaris. If Tucker was lying then just sitting there and listening to him must have been agony. Ed didn't know her very well, but he knew of Solaris and his brother's…relationship. Well besides that, Solaris has always been loyal to his family and a good partner.

"You know the truth, Mr. Hohenheim." Solaris said, her eyes leaving Tucker for a moment to look at his father. "The real truth. Not this bullshit."

"I'd love to be able to prove that this is bullshit." Tucker said. "But I'm afraid my associate is nowhere to be found. Without him, it is simply my word against your girl's. And I really must ask, do you inspire such behavior in all your employees or is Miss Phillips just a special case?"

Solaris' face revealed nothing but the cold hatred she had been unabashedly demonstrating the whole meeting.

'She's got quite the poker face.' Ed thought as Van began to speak.

"I think we can all agree that we are all above playground bickering. I'd prefer that we didn't devolve into a argument over who started it first."

Ed felt Lyra's eyes on him and saw that she was arching an eyebrow. Edward couldn't help but chuckle. The tone of voice Hohenheim was using was one that Edward had heard many times in his childhood. The tone of a father scolding misbehaving children.

"Everyone here is equally guilty in my eyes." Van's voice was strong and commanding. "The past does not concern me. More so, the future is what I am focused on." His golden eyes traveled around the table. "What shall be your future, ladies and gentlemen?" The question was rhetorical. No one said anything.

"Here's what your future will be. Solaris and Shou, there will be no more fighting." Hohenheim's face became darker. "For years I have had to watch your squabbles and petty disagreements. I've watched you spill each other's blood time and time again. In all that time, you could never go all the way and kill each other or find a compromise. Luckily, I still hold you two in high esteem and would thus prefer a compromise. Shou, what happened with Phillips must never happen again. None of your men are to touch or harass any associates or employees of Solaris. You will pay Bailey for the damage done to one of her employee. And the same goes for you, Miss Bailey. You must reimburse Shou for the man you murdered. The rest of you, I'll simply leave you with a warning. Conflicts breeds chaos, and chaos isn't good for any of us." Hohenheim barely blinked while he spoke. "Am I understood?"

There was a slight murmuring of "Yes" throughout the table.

'Sheep.' Ed thought, shaking his head. He glanced over at Solaris. Despite her good poker face. He could see that she was incredibly pissed by what had just occurred.

'Good luck Envy.' He thought, feeling genuine pity for his older brother.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

Gluttony and Juliet did their best to keep up with Solaris as she marched down the hallways of the Hohenheim mansion. Neither of them had tried to talk to her as she was clearly in a bad mood. Leaning in so that their boss wouldn't hear, Juliet whispered to Gluttony. "So how do you think that went?"

Gluttony frowned and look ahead at his sister. "I don't know. Solaris is very angry."

"Yeah...she is." Juliet sighed. "But at least she's still alive, that's all that matters."

Up ahead the elderly butler stood holding the front door open for the them. He bid each of them goodbye as they passed him. Solaris' heels dug into the gravel as she continued to stomp outside. Juliet and Gluttony followed her out and saw a figure by their car. It was Envy, he was leaning against the hood of the limo. He had his black coat on and his arms were crossed. A crooked grin formed on his face as he took in Solaris' pissed off body language.

"Hey beautiful, I can see that it went well." Envy laughed. He kicked off the car as Solaris got near.

"Sorry, I couldn't be in there." He shrugged. "Dad said something about a conflict of interest and-"

He was cut off when Solaris punched him directly in the nose.

"Fuck!" Envy cursed as he clutched his nose. Solaris stomped off to her car while Gluttony and Juliet stood there in shock.

"What, is it that time of the month already?" Envy turned to look at Solaris. The enraged woman turned as well, her fist poised to strike him again.

"Okay, whoa!" Envy raised one of his hands protectively as he stepped back.

"That was fucking humiliating." She hissed. "I had to sit there across from Tucker, that rat. He spat all of that shit. And then your father lectures me like some child!"

"Hey, I said I was going to do my best." Envy raised his hands in surrender. "I made no promises."

"Money?" She asked. "That's all Tucker has to lose? He could pay that fine a million times over. Your father knows he's one of the richest men in the city."

"I never promised you Tucker's head." Envy responded. "You're a idiot if you were expecting him to give that to you."

"I expected more then the slap of the wrist he just gave all of us." Solaris started to pace aggressively. "Does he really expect Tucker to agree to this?"

A few feet away Juliet was watching with growing trepidation as two of the city's most temperamental people were having a heated argument. "This is not going to end well." She whispered to Gluttony who nodded nervously in agreement.

"Give it a few months." Solaris chuckled darkly. Her arms crossed across her chest as she stared Envy down. Both of them stood tall and defiant. Like a cobra and a mongoose facing off, each waiting for the other to strike. "Your daddy is gonna forget all about this little squabble of ours. And when Tucker does as he does best, the king of Central isn't going to do shit to help. If you ask me, he's getting too lazy up on that throne of his."

Juliet face palmed.

Envy's frown turned into a glare. "Okay Solaris, you can bust my balls any time you want, I find it kinda hot. But don't insult my father. I'm warning you." He finished off with a snarl.

Solaris didn't have a chance to respond as he continued talking.

"What else could you have done, Solaris? What grand scheme did you have cooked up?" Envy asked with an arched eyebrow. "Do you want to know how a war with Tucker would have ended for you? Probably getting shot by said bastard in some alley while your club is burned to the ground? Gluttony's head on a spike? Shall I go on-JESUS CHRIST WOMAN!"

Envy jumped back to avoid her pointed, steel tip shoe from spearing him in the balls.

"Will you stop it!" Envy said, holding a finger up warningly. Solaris gave him an unimpressed look and shook her head. After a few moments she looked Envy in the eye.

"Next time I'm not coming to you." She said, her composure now mostly returned.

"This was a fucking favor." Envy growled. "Do you understand that? A fucking favor! Me keeping you from getting killed!"

"You were only keeping me from disturbing your daddy's precious peace." Solaris said. "His peace is running this city into the fucking ground. All this of shit is just going to keep building up, and up, and up. Then boom! It'll all explode in his face." She took a step closer to Envy. "If he had any brains, he'd shoot Tucker and get it all over with. Instead your father's too much of a fucking coward-"

Envy cut her off by backhanding her across the face. Solaris stumbled back a step, but was able to maintain her glare with Envy. Envy returned it until he suddenly felt large hands grabbing him from behind. Before he knew what was happening, Envy was sent flying through the air only to land hard on the gravel driveway. He landed on his shoulder and pain shot through his body as he slid a few feet. Luckily the bone didn't break or get dislocated and the leather of his coat kept the gravel from cutting him. His vision blurred for a few seconds, before he growled and struggled to his feet.

He stood up to see Gluttony standing protectively in front of Solaris. When Envy's fist tightened, he realized he was holding his knife.

"You're lucky that I like you, fat boy." Envy pointed his blade at Gluttony. Then he turned his gaze to Solaris. His green hair hung messily in front of his eyes, but they could still make eye contact.

"I guess I'll see you around." He muttered.

Solaris didn't respond and turned around to enter her car. Envy watched as she opened the door, went inside, and slammed it shut. He glanced to the side to see Gluttony shuffling towards the passenger seat.

"Hey Gluts!" He called.

Gluttony turned his large head to look back at him.

"Toss me around like that again, and I'll cut myself some blubber." Envy twirled the blade in his hand before pocketing it.

Gluttony frowned but was hustled into the limo by Solaris' assistant Juliet. Before entering herself, the brunette flipped Envy off.

Envy watched silently as Solaris dramatically drove the car out of the long driveway and out of sight.

"I haven't seen a situation escalate that quickly in a while." Edward said as he suddenly walked up next to Envy.

"Fuck off." He grumbled.

"So that's what the two of you fighting looks like. Damn that was vicious." Ed continued with a chuckle.

"We've had worse fights." Envy said quietly and rather bitterly, surprising Ed. "But something felt different about this one."

Ed examined his brother's face and was even more surprised to see genuine regret. Stepping back, he looked Envy up and down. His body language betrayed that he was tense and…sad.

"Hey…" Ed reached over to put a hand on Envy's shoulder, feeling the emotions practically radiating off of him. "You okay man?"

"Ah, don't worry about me." Envy chuckled. "I'm not going to start crying on you."

"You do know that human beings are allowed to show emotion at least once in their lives?" Ed raised an eyebrow at his brother.

Envy went silent, for several moments he nibbled his lower lip with his teeth. "What's the point of being like everyone else?" He asked rhetorically.

"Is that why you like Solaris so much?" Ed asked. "Because she's not liked everyone else."

"Shit, when you say it like that, it sounds romantic as fuck." Envy said, giving Ed a small grin. Ed didn't respond and they went into a silence that wasn't entirely unpleasant. After a minute, Envy spoke.

"Who do you think would win in a fight?" He asked.

Ed looked at Envy. "Who? You and Gluttony?"

"No." Envy responded. "Me and you. Who do you think would win in a fight?"

"Depends." Ed said. "What are we fighting with?"

"Say that we just started fighting each other right here and now." Envy said, motioning around them. "Who would win?"

"You, probably." Ed responded, looking away from Envy to the somewhat distant lights of the city.

"Why me?" Envy asked, staring at the same lights.

"You fight dirty." Ed responded with a shrug.

"You could still win." Envy sighed.

"Maybe." Ed said.

"You could." Envy replied before turning around and heading back to the mansion.

 **OoO**

* * *

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 **Central Library. 6:45:**

"Fascinating." Winry murmured as turned the page to see another one with various automation designs on it. A few feet away, a girl with glasses glanced at her friend and chuckled. Winry was currently sitting at a table next to the checkout desk, reading the latest book from renowned Automail mechanic Atelier Garfield.

"I'm going to take a wild guess and say that you're enjoying the book?" Sheska smiled as she swiveled in her chair to face Winry.

Completely caught up in her own world of mechanical wonders, Winry jumped at the librarian's sudden words. "Maybe." She murmured with a slight blush.

"You know if you read anymore, you're going to have to check it out? Library policy."

Winry looked down at the book then back up at Sheska before sighing and pulling out her library card. A giggling Sheska took the card and the book before signing the guide out. Winry accepted them back and continued reading from the page that she had been on.

"Just to let you know." Winry said as she remembered the photo Dominic had showed them. "Paninya has an adorable picture waiting for you when you get back home."

"Really?" Sheska smiled, intrigued. "What's it of?"

"You'll just have to wait and see." Winry returned. After her shift at Dominic's shop had ended, Winry had decided to stop by the library and say hello to Sheska. She hadn't meant to stay very long, but then she saw Garfield's new book on display and that was that.

"Oh wow." She muttered to herself as she flipped the page to see his latest design for steel ankle joints. "Of course…"

"Winry, you're doing it again." Sheska said, not looking up from her own book.

"Like you're any better." Winry shot back.

Sheska rolled her eyes and went back to her book. A few moments later she heard footsteps approaching the counter so she looked up with a smile.

"Hello, how can I…" Sheska suddenly cut herself off with a surprised " _Eeep_ " when she saw the man approaching the checkout counter.

Winry heard the strange sound that her friend made and looked up to see what had caused it. Her eyes widened at what she saw. For the the first half second, Winry thought that she was looking at Edward Elric. But in the next half second she quickly realized that it couldn't be him. This man was slightly taller than Edward and his body was thinner. His clothes were different as well. Instead of Edward's jeans and leather jacket, this man wore slacks and a Patagonia jacket. Under the jacket, she could see a white dress shirt. His face was also different from Edward's, being more boyish and less sharp. The man's eyes and hair were almost the same brilliant gold, yet they had a slightly darker shade.

'This must be Alphonse Hohenheim.' Winry thought.

He seemed a bit taken aback by Sheska's response and unsure of what to say. In his hand was a book. Sheska looked unsurely from him over to Winry and Alphonse followed her gaze till he locked eyes with her. Winry swallowed nervously, unsure how to act around this other Hohenheim. It vaguely registered to Winry that his stare didn't give her the same jolt that Edward's eyes had.

'Wait! I'm standing in front of another Hohenheim and that's the first thing I think of?' The small nervous voice inside of Winry shouted at the normal part of her brain. Before she could further analyze this odd behavior, Winry remembered who she was standing in front of.

Alphonse's eyes widened a little when he saw her, which she assumed meant that he must recognize her. A small smile formed on his face and he looked back to Sheska.

"Excuse me." He said, holding up the book that he had been planning to check out. "I'll be back with this in a minute."

Sheska nodded and Alphonse started walking over to Winry. She caught an apologetic look from Sheska. She glanced back over to Alphonse as he came to a stop in front of her.

"Hello." He said, in a voice much kinder voice than Edward's. "Would you mind if I sat with you?"

If he was anything like his brother, this Hohenheim wouldn't take no for an answer. "Sure." She said.

Alphonse smiled politely and sat down in a chair across the table from her.

"Winry Rockbell, I assume?" He asked.

"Yeah." Winry responded. Her recent phone conversation had slightly quelled her unease about the Hohenhiems. But the trunk incident had taught her that she shouldn't take any seemingly normal situation involving one of them at face value.

"Small world." Alphonse chuckled before holding out his hand. "Hello, my name is Alphonse Hohenheim."

"I kinda figured." Winry said with a small smile as she shook his hand, mostly out of politeness.

"I guess the only other options were me or Envy. And I certainly don't have green hair." Alphonse laughed again. "What are you reading?"

"Automail." She held the book up. "You?"

"New George R.R. Martin book." Alphonse said with bashful smile.

Winry suddenly found herself at a loss for what to say. Trying to think quickly she said the first thing that came to mind.

"Is uh…is your brother Edward a fan of those books?" Winry asked, inwardly cringing. Why did she mention Edward? Well, what else was she going to talk about? It wasn't like she knew anything about this guy.

"No, not really." Alphonse chuckled. "He prefers Michael Crichton's books more."

"Like Jurassic Park?" She asked.

"He does enjoy that one, but his favorite's actually State of Fear." Alphonse continued. "He said that he likes the scientific parts. How Crichton makes the impossible seem plausible."

Winry couldn't help but let giggle escape. "So he's a science geek?"

"Yeah, I guess he is." Al said thoughtfully before giving a small chuckle. "Never really thought about it like that."

"Kind of takes away from the big tough guy persona he's got going for himself." Winry commented. "So…I'm guessing that Edward told you about me?"

Alphonse gave Winry a smile that made her feel less nervous. "He did, I also saw the security footage of you sneaking into our casino."

"Oh...yeah, sorry about that." Winry said.

"Nah don't be sorry, that took some guts." Al chuckled.

"Your brother said something similar." Winry said with a sigh before a sudden thought entered her mind. "What…um what exactly did Edward say about me?" Knowing him, his account of their interactions might be more risque from what actually happened.

"He didn't say anything negative if that's what you're wondering." Alphonse reassured her. "He only talks shit about people he dislikes."

'So, I guess that means that he likes me.' Winry thought in her head. 'Well he did give his phone number after all.'

"So." Alphonse continued. "Now that your situation in your neighborhood is over, what do you plan on doing?"

Winry wasn't surprised that he knew about that whole situation. "This really." She tapped the book of automail. "I've been hoping to open up my own shop soon."

"Really?" Al looked interested. "I mean no offense, Ms. Rockbell, but you look a little young to run an automail shop by yourself."

Winry chuckled and shook her head. Alphonse was certainly more polite than his older brother. 'Ed should take lessons.' She thought before responding. "No offense taken, I've heard that one before plenty of times. No, I lost most of the money I'd been saving up to that gang and other reasons. It'll probably take a few years till I could buy the shop. By then I should be an _acceptable_ age." The sarcasm in her voice got another chuckle out of Alphonse.

"Sounds like you got your hands rather full." Al commented.

"Its nothing that I can't handle." Winry grinned with confidence. "A Rockbell never gives up."

Al raised an eyebrow. Even though he'd only been talking to her for a few minutes, he could see what Ed had meant when he described her as _intriguing_. Winry Rockbell was a charming, funny, smart, genuine, and very beautiful young lady. In their line of business and social circles, women with that kind of a combination were a rarity. No wonder his older brother was intrigued by Ms. Rockbell. She different, forbidden fruit.

'It's too bad Ed met her first.' He joked inwardly.

"So…when I talked to your brother, he asked me about the connection between our parents." Winry said, lightly chewing her lower lip. Maybe this brother might tell her more. "Why was he so interested?"

"Edward likes to discover new things." Alphonse vaguely admitted.

"Was he satisfied with what he discovered?" She asked, raising an unimpressed eyebrow.

"More or less, but unfortunately Ed's never satisfied with anything." Al gave a sheepish smile as Winry gave a small one in return.

"Somehow that doesn't surprise me." She admitted to her companion.

Al gave her a semi-sympathetic smile. "He can be a bit difficult."

"Still." Winry murmured. "Your brother helped me even though he had nothing to gain from it."

Al nodded. "Yeah, I've been scratching my head about that as well. Edward isn't the most charitable of people."

"He actually told me that when we first met." Winry chuckled. "I guess that I was an exception."

Winry didn't know why she said those last words. But as soon as she did, Winry felt her cheeks heating up. This realization only caused her face to flush even further. Winry turned her face to the side in an attempt to hide the blush from Alphonse. Based on the curiosity that appeared in his eyes, he saw it anyways.

'It would certainly seem so.' Al thought to himself. The sound of the library door opening caught his attention and Al glanced at a nearby clock.

"Well, it's been lovely meeting you Ms. Rockbell. But unfortunately I have to be going." Al said as he stood up from the seat.

"Tell Edward that I said hi." Winry waved to him as he stood up.

"I will." Alphonse returned. "You know, you should come by the Xerxes again. As a patron though, I'm afraid we only allow one breaking and entering per person."

"I guess I should have saved it for a special occasion then." Winry joked in return.

Al smiled before glancing over at Sheska. "Your friend's been anxiously watching us for the last five minutes, I'll go put her out of her misery." Alphonse picked up his book and walked off. "Have a good night, Miss. Rockbell."

"Goodbye, Mr. Hohenheim." Winry gave him another wave.

Alphonse waved back with a smile as he walked over to check his book out with Sheska.

'Two Elric brothers in one week. Being a Rockbell must bring them out of the woodwork.' Winry chuckled to herself. 'They are different then I expected. Well, different in their own ways.' She thought as she watched Alphonse stroll to the door. He was definitely kinder and more down to earth than you'd expect a mobster to be, unless it was all an act. But Winry doubted it was. Edward on the other hand… she was still trying to figure him out.

 **OoO**

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 **Industrial District. 11:18 p.m:**

Yoki looked down at his watch impatiently, his foot tapped insistently on the pavement below. Around him, Yoki's bodyguards eyed the seemingly empty street for any sign of trouble. Today had been a very busy and, to be honest, rather stressful for the renowned fixer. First him and many others had been called to the Hohenheim manor for a meeting regarding the rising conflict between Shou and Solaris Bailey.

'How long until Shou just fucking poisons that bitch. It would just save all of us a lot of damn trouble.' Yoki sighed before glancing down at the watch again. 'Where are they?'

Tonight was it. He was finally going to meet Atlas' mysterious employer. Whoever it was had to have serious connections if they could kill one of Olivier Armstrong's witness. The 'Iron Wall' always put them in the tightest witness protection services. No other criminal besides the Hohenheims had ever gotten access to them. Yet this unknown player had done just that.

So going into this, Yoki had to admit that he felt more than a little intimidated.

'Who the fuck could it be?' Yoki thought. 'It can't be anyone I know, because why all this damn secrecy.' Whoever it was, they certainly had a taste for the theatrics. Yoki was currently waiting on a rather rundown street that ran under one of Central's bridges.

Suddenly his phone started vibrating in his pocket. He fished around for it and eventually found it.

"Hello?" He asked, answering the call.

"Mr. Yoki." Came a deep voice that Yoki recognized to be Atlas's. "Glad you could make it."

Yoki glanced around him, seeing only empty streets. "You said to meet here at 11:00 at night. Unless I've gone blind, I'm pretty sure I'm the only one here. So where the hell are you?"

"Around." Atlas answered. "I just wanted to check in and see if we're still best friends."

"...we are." Yoki said uncertainly.

"That's great." Atlas said. "Now can you see a relatively small building with a rather shitty tiled roof?"

"The green one?" Yoki asked looking down the street.

"No, the red one." Atlas answered.

"I see it." Yoki responded, starting to get irritated again.

"Great, that's where I am." Atlas said. "Come on over and say hi."

"But I thought I was-" Yoki began.

"You will." Atlas cut him off. "Come and say hi first."

Atlas hung up the phone. Yoki sighed, wondering if he was going to regret coming to this meeting. Waving for his four bodyguards to follow him, he began walking towards the red colored building that Atlas had pointed out. The large doors to the building were wide open, allowing Yoki to see the entire interior as he and his men entered the lobby.

There was a man standing in the middle of it.

He was very tall and had blond hair. He wore a long dark brown coat with leather gloves. Yoki saw a phone in his hand.

"Atlas, I presume." He said.

"Hello Yoki." Atlas said with a wide smile. "It's a pleasure to finally meet you."

Yoki looked him up and down, trying to gauge if he was a threat. Atlas was certainly a very physically imposing man with a tall stature and muscled frame. There didn't appear to be any firearms on him, yet something in Atlas' eyes unnerved Yoki. He wouldn't call it insanity, no it was more…chilling then that.

"Its, uh, nice to meet you too." Yoki looked away from Atlas and glanced around the room. It had little furniture and sparse lighting, and no sign of any other persons. Much to his embarrassment, Yoki felt sweat starting to form on the back of his neck. He had a bad feeling about this.

"Alright, you got my attention and now you've got me here. Am I going to meet this boss of yours or what?" Yoki tried his best to sound intimidating.

"Patience is a virtue, Mr. Yoki."

Yoki jumped at the sudden voice. It wasn't Atlas who had spoken. He heard a dark chuckle before the voice continued.

"The original version of that line was Latin, _Maxima enim, patientia_ virtus;which translates to 'Patience is the greatest virtue'." Suddenly a man entered through the door behind Atlas. The blonde messenger grinned at Yoki, before stepping to the side. Now Yoki had a full view of the man he had come to meet.

He was clad all in all white. A white jacket, pants, coat, even a white fedora. He almost seemed to glow in contrast to the dark room around him. But the color of his clothes was the only thing innocent about this man. If looking into Atlas' eyes chilled Yoki, this man's eyes made his blood run cold. They were a piercing blue that could make you feel naked no matter what you wore. Multiple emotions swam in them: amusement, excitement, satisfaction, and above all confidence. Raven black hair tied in a neat ponytail framed a strong face with sharp features and a shark like grin.

"I've been watching you for a long time, Mr. Yoki." The man in white strolled into the room, hands in his pockets. He walked like a man who had everything he could ever want, or at least the means to achieve them. "In fact, I've been watching all of your associates in Central for a while now. I must say thats its been a very enlightening experience."

Even his calm, monotone voice intimidated Yoki. It wasn't intimating in the same way that Van Hohenheim was. It was more sinister, yet still very refined. He spoke like a man who knew exactly what he was talking about.

"W-who are you." Yoki cursed himself for stuttering, yet he couldn't help it.

The man's smirk grew, showing off perfectly white teeth. Reaching up, he took off his hat and held in both hands by his waist. "There is no need to be so nervous, Mr. Youswell. I mean you no harm. Quite the opposite in fact. I want to help you."

Yoki's brow furrowed. What was this about? "Help me?" He asked.

"Yes. I believe that we can help each other, Mr. Youswell." The man said in a voice that was both calming and frightening at the same time. "And allow to introduce myself. My name is Solf J. Kimblee."

Yoki was silent before nodding dumbly. "Alright Mr. Kimblee, what do you want?"

The man named Kimblee chuckled. "Very polite. What happened to the attitude that you came in with?" His blue eyes gleamed in the darkness.

"I...um-well..." Yoki found himself stumbling over his words. A bead of sweat rolled down the side of his face.

Kimblee placed his white fedora back onto his head and took a few steps forward. Yoki gulped at the taller man drew closer. Behind him, his bodyguards seemed to be getting antsy.

"Boss, I don't know about this." Barry Yandell whispered into Yoki's ear.

"Quiet." Yoki hissed back.

"Don't worry Mr. Yandell, you are not the ones who need fear me." Kimblee said.

Yoki had finally decided it was the man's eyes that unsettled him the most. Kimblee's eyes were a light shade of blue, almost gray in color. But there was nothing dull about them. When he looked into them it felt similar to when he would look Van Hohenheim in the eye. But this was different. While Hohenheim's gaze intimidated all those that came under it, Kimblee's was downright unsettling. There was something there; a little twinkle in the eye that sent shivers throughout Yoki's entire body.

He also decided that it was time to get to the point of this meeting.

"Then who are the ones?" He asked folding his arms. Yoki guessed that this man was here to propose some kind of alliance. His 'we can help each other' was kind of a giveaway.

"I believe you already know the answer to that question." Kimblee answered.

The Hohenheim family.

 **OoO**

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 **OoO**

 **It's Kimblee! Congratulations** **Mother Of The Universe.**

 **I hadn't meant to make it a whole reveal, but it was too fun not to. I really enjoyed hearing your guesses and I understand why people might think it was a member of the Hohenheim family. It is true that I haven't worked with Father yet, but he's a hard character to work with. All the other villains are much easier to incorporate.**

 **Fun fact, State of Fear is my favorite Michael Crichton book.**

 **Next chapter May's going to show up and you'll find out a little more about what Kimblee has in store. Please leave reviews.**


	12. Chapter 12

**LoveroftheWorld:** Thanks for the support.

 **Hirude:** I'm honored to hear that this your favorite fanfiction at the moment. I'm also glad to hear that you also like Envy and Solaris. I wasn't originally going to have the relationship between them be so prominent. But as I started writing more for them, I fell in love with their dynamic and started putting them in more chapters. You can expect some more crazy shit from the two of them in the future.

 **Joker Oak:** Yeah there's not going to be a Ed, Winry, and Al love triangle in this story. I'm not a big fan of that. As to what prediction you made that was correct, that's all I'm going to say about that.

 **Vhosek:** I'm glad that I was able to get some people by surprise. For what he has in store, that may take a while. There's a reason why Kimblee quoted 'patience is a virtue'.

 **Master Of The Universe:** I've been wanting to write a story with Kimblee as the villain for a while. He's one of my favorite FMA villains and I'm glad to hear that I did his entrance justice. Something that I've noticed in fanfics is that Kimblee is usually portrayed as total creep or a sexual predator. I have mixed feelings about this stereotype since I never got that vibe from him while watching Brotherhood. Though he does seem to have an explosion fetish. Anyways, I'm going to do my best to keep Kimblee as similar to his canon self as possible since I found him to be such a great character.

 **SleepinBeautyK:** I actually did consider the idea of having Ed and Winry being engaged while they were children. Sorry but Al and May won't be meeting this chapter.

 **Guest:** I don't hate Al, I really like him a lot. There's a few reasons why he hasn't gotten a storyline of his own yet. One is that there's already so many characters and subplots that I can only have so many. Some characters will be left out. I have a plan for Al's character in this story, and his shorter appearances have been intentional. Funny enough though, Al's getting his first real individual scene this chapter.

 **Hope you enjoy!**

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 **Yoki Youswell's personal office, located at Central racetrack. Early morning:**

Yoki drummed his fingers against the armrest of his chair. As per usual, he was sitting behind his desk, alone. His thoughts drifting back to the meeting that he had the previous night. He remembered what had been running through his head as it was happening. The same thoughts were still running through his head even now.

'Was that man for real?'

Yoki had gone to that meeting as a courtesy for the favor that Kimblee had done for him. Going in, he'd had a pretty good idea as to what these mysterious people might want of him.

They wanted his help with taking down the Hohenheim's.

He remembered the conversation that had followed once Kimblee had made this clear.

" _You're ambitious." Yoki said. "I'll give you that."_

" _What, do you believe it to be impossible?" Kimblee grinned._

" _I've seen a dozen of people like you come and go." Yoki scoffed. "You and your like think that you have the one grand master plan to take over the whole city. But the second that Hohenheim catches wind; you're dead."_

" _No, Mr Yoki." Kimblee shook his head with a slight chuckle. "I can guarantee that you've never seen anyone like me and neither has Van Hohemhiem."_

It was true. Yoki couldn't recall anyone else who could produce the same level of unease from him that this Kimblee could. Despite that though, the man had certainly treated him with more respect than Hohenheim or any of his little brats. Still, an intimidating and respectful persona wasn't enough to take over the city. If Yoki really was going to back this man's agenda against Van, he needed proof that this man could pull it off. He said this much to Kimblee a few hours prior. He had chuckled in response.

Their brief meeting had ended with a vague promise from the mysterious man in white.

" _You'll see soon enough, Mr Yoki. I look forward to working with you and others. I'll be in touch."_

Yoki had no idea what this meant. Was Kimblee going to strike against the Hohenheims? So far the man came off as a resourceful person, especially if he was able to get to Armstrong's witness. The promise of working with others caught his attention as well. Was Kimblee performing similar meetings with the other smaller bosses of the city such as Archer or Shou? If so, then that would be a good start to undermining Van's hold.

Yoki glanced down at his desk where a black cellphone lay. A parting gift from Kimblee.

" _The next time we contact you will be on this phone. I suggest you answer when the time comes."_

It was a burner phone. No doubt Kimblee wanted to avoid being caught on any phone records. Smart man.

Yoki leaned back in his chair, a small sense of excitement forming inside of him.

This could prove to be very promising.

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 **Hohenheim Manor, Van's office. Late afternoon:**

Van Hohenheim sat in his darkened office as he did every day. The fire from the pit creating the most light, though not much. The little that it did reflected off of the small glasses he wore. His hands were folded on the surface of the mahogany desk in front of him. Across from him sat two of his most trusted lieutenants.

"It's only been twenty four hours, but so far there is no further conflict." Scar informed Van in his typical monotone voice. "Nor has there been any talk from Solaris and Tucker's people about any more retributions."

Van nodded, his eyes then moving to Fu who sat next to the large Ishvalan. "And the others?"

"There has been a de-escalation of all of the concerned parties." Fu said. "All of our informants have corroborated each other, it all checks out."

A fact that was only known by a select few, which included the men in this room, along with Izumi, Greed, Edward, and Alphonse was that Van had a spy in just about every single gang in this this city. They were in place to keep track of each player's movements and report on any developments that could concern Van. Obviously in the recent case, both of Van's informants in Solaris' and Tucker's organizations had failed to report the escalation of the conflict. He had only discovered the rising tensions once Edgar had come to him asking to intervene on Solaris' behalf. He did not know what could have caused this abhorrent display of incompetence and idleness.

He would see to it that both of these informants would have suitable replacements, once the originals were probably disposed of. Failure of this magnitude deserved severe punishment.

'Edgar will no doubt be up to the task with administering said punishment.' Van thought cooly in his head.

"Lyra." He spoke, turning to look behind him. The dark haired girl then seemed to step out of the shadows.

"Yes sir?"

"Call Izumi. You and her are to find proper replacements for monitoring Tucker and Bailey." Hohenheim ordered. "Inform me when you have narrowed the list to two suitable candidates for each position."

This process would involve the two of them taking a look at every member of each respected organization and seeing which one could be easily be swayed to spy. There was always at least a few. The only challenge was finding one that would be smart enough to not get caught. The best secrets were ones that were never discovered.

The young woman nodded. "As you wish, Mr. Hohenheim." Lyra then reached into her suit pocket and pulled out her cell phone. She began talking into it as she swiftly exited the room.

"Hello Mrs. Curtis, this is Lyra. Mr Hohenheim wants-"

Hohenheim watched her exit the room before closing his eyes and sighing. Lyra had been under his employment for several years now and had proven herself capable countless times. Hohenheim would be lying if he said that he'd hadn't grown fond of her in his own way. That fact would always bring a twinge of guilt to Van as he remembered the circumstances that led to Lyra's hiring. He was almost surprised that he could feel that emotion anymore. The circumstances had been regrettable to say the least, but had now devolved into the category of ancient history. She would never find out the truth, so there was no use giving it more thought than it deserved. Quickly pushing those thoughts away, Van focused back on the two men seated in front of him.

"Is there anything else that requires my immediate attention?"

"No, sir." Scar's deep monotone cut through the air.

There was brief moment of silence before Fu sat up straighter in his chair. "Sir?" He asked, requesting permission to speak.

Van's gaze moved to Fu. "Yes, my friend?"

"Call it paranoia, but I have a bad feeling." The elderly Xingese man spoke with nothing shorter than complete and utter seriousness.

Hohenheim's expression did not change as he leaned forward with his hands clasped on the desk. "Have you now? And what would be the cause?"

At this, Fu's gaze dropped slightly. "I can't say why, but I fear that something is coming. Something bad for all of us."

Most people probably would have laughed at this point. Indeed, most people would have called Fu a superstitious old fool and ignored him. But most people weren't Van Hohenheim. In the over thirty years that he'd known Fu, the Xingese man had proven to have an almost sixth sense for danger. This sixth sense had, on numerous occasions, saved Van's life. Twenty two years ago, he'd survived an assassination attempt only because Fu had convinced him to wear a bulletproof vest that day. Needless to say, he now took Fu's premonitions very seriously. They had saved his life and the lives of other Hohenheim members many times.

"Edward and Edgar are about to meet with May Chang later today. Could it involve them?" Van proposed.

Fu shook his head and gave a sigh. "Sorry Van, I fear I'm not as young as I once was. It's gotten harder to concentrate on such things. I'll try to meditate later. Perhaps that will help."

Van nodded, respecting his friend too much to question the point of it all. Meditating wasn't something that he ever partook in. Personally, he never found anything good within his own mind.

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 **The Xerxes:**

"So if you take a look at this month's earnings, we're actually ahead of last month's quota."

Al nodded, looking down at the documents that corroborated the previous statement.

"Surprising." He said, looking back up at Russell. "Normally we don't do this good at this time in the year."

"Probably that football championship that happened a few weeks ago." Russell commented. "A bunch of rich people come into town to see a good game and stick around for a few more. Those who won money off the game going off to spend their winnings."

"Whatever it is, let's hope it keeps going." Al straightened his tie as he stepped away from his desk.

"Are you off, sir?" Russell asked.

"No, I'm just going to go for a walk on the floor. Stretch my legs." Al said over his shoulder as he walked to the door. As he left the room he past the door to Noah's office. Noah served as a secretary to both himself and his brother. She was decent enough at her job, things ran smoothly with her. Although sometimes she wasn't always as present as she could be. Al thought back to how Winry Rockbell had easily snuck past her.

The floor was lively as it always was. Sounds of excitement, anger, happiness, and misery could be heard all around. There was buzzing, music, excited voices, and ringing. It was like a children's arcade for grown ups.

'Which when you get down to it, that is basically what a casino is.' Al mused in his head as he stepped around his patrons.

Normally he didn't go for walks like this on the floor when everything was in full swing. He often found the excitement on the floor to be, for a lack of a better term, obnoxious. He prefered to be back in the office working on the logistics of the business, not watching rich people become slightly less rich people. Still though, it didn't hurt to occasionally try to step out of his comfort zone.

A finely dressed man and equally stylish woman bumped into each other right in front of Al, causing the woman to spill her drink on the carpeted floor. Al had to step back to avoid getting any of the drink on his black Wingtips shoes.

'An arcade for adults.' He thought again in his head.

"Mr. Hohenheim." He heard a voice behind him. He turned around to see their head of security, Pitt Renbak, standing there.

"Yes Pitt?" He asked.

"We found a man trying to count cards over on Table 17, sir." Pitt informed him. "We've taken him to the back rooms."

"Alright." Al nodded, unsure as to why exactly he needed to be told about this particular incident. "Unfortunate, but how does this concern me?"

"Well sir." Pitt continued. "Mr. Edward has made it clear that whenever we catch anyone in any form, we take them back to be dealt with. He prefers to deal with them himself."

"Oh." Al said in realization. Edward and him had discussed this policy in the past. Ed liked to personally dish out the punishment himself to further put the fear in those who might try to cheat.

" _If you mess with us, you have to deal with us."_ Al remembered his brother saying once.

And now Pitt was requesting that Al fill in for his brother.

"Alright, take me to him." He said. His head of security nodded and motioned for him to follow. The two men made their way across the busy floor towards a door near the back. A guard in a suit and sunglasses stood by the door, a recent security inclusion since Winry had given them an impromptu test of their security measures.

Pitt lead him out of the floor and into the kitchen which served both the patrons of the casino and the hotel attached to it. The chefs went about their work ignoring the two men going through their workspace. After the kitchen, Pitt pushed open the door that lead out of the kitchen and into a hallway. This was mostly a storage place for various things of either establishments. At the end of it was the room they were looking for. Pitt opened the door to that room and held it open for Al to enter.

In the room was a man sitting in a chair surrounded by about four of the Casino's security. The man was wearing a plaid shirt and was balding slightly. He looked nervous. Al glanced at Pitt than back to the man.

"So you've been trying to count cards from what my men tell me." Alphonse spoke casually as he strolled towards the offender.

"I don't know what these guys have been telling you, but I wasn't." The man said. Alphonse had to give him some credit, he was good at sounding convincing.

Al shifted a little on his feet. If Pitt said that this guy had been counting cards than he had been counting cards.

'If Ed was here, he would already be personally beating this guy into the ground.' Al thought. Ed would always make sure that when these guys left the message was clearly displayed all over their face. Al wondered if he could do that…

He suddenly turned to Pitt.

"I'm sure you know what to do?" He said as he turned to head back to the door that he had come through. "Don't leave too much of a mess."

There was a pause before he heard Pitt respond.

"Yes sir."

"Wait a minute! Wait, you can't do this!"

Al looked over his shoulder to see Pitt strike the man square in the face, knocking him to the ground. The man spit out a glob of blood before letting out a cry as Pitt began to kick him in the chest. Al watched for a few moments before stepping out of the door.

"An arcade for grown ups." He muttered to himself as the muffled sounds of Pitt repeatedly striking the man followed him down the hallway.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **2 miles from Central harbor. Night time:**

"Well, look who actually decided to show up."

"Go fuck yourself."

Edward chuckled as he shifted over so Envy could get in the car. The green haired criminal stepped over his brother and sat down next to him. He gave the vehicle a once over as it started moving. "Seriously, a fucking Cadillac?"

Ed shrugged. "I think a limo would have been too pretentious. Besides, this is faster and bullet proof if we need to make a quick getaway."

"Since when did you care about being pretentious?" Envy scoffed. "Your whole damn existence is pretentious."

"First impressions are important." Ed responded. "This woman must already think that we're nothing more than two bratty sons of a rich mob boss, she's going into this meeting already disliking us."

"Then good thing the teacher's pet isn't here." Envy chuckled, referring to Al. "Otherwise we'd be fucked."

Ed shook his head and decided to change the subject. "Speaking of fucked, have you patched things up with Solaris yet?" He asked, glancing over at his older brother.

"Not in the slightest." Envy responded.

"So how does this work? Do you send each other decapitated heads as appeasement gifts?" Edward chuckled.

"To be perfectly fucking candid, Ed. I'd rather not talk about that shit right now." Envy sighed and ran a hand through his spiky hair.

Seeing that his brother was serious, Ed backed off. "I'm sorry man. I was just kidding around."

Envy just gave a nod to show he accepted his brother's apology. He gave a small wave to Jerso who was sitting in the driver's seat. "So how come Ling ain't here?" Envy asked. "It's his little sister we're seeing after all."

"Oh he is here." Ed responded, pointing behind them to another black Cadillac with tinted windows. "He's in the second car with Darius, Zampano, and Henkiel. We'll pull him out if we need him."

"Does she know he's one of us?" Envy asked.

"Not sure." Ed responded. "I haven't talked to her or anything. Greed's been the one doing all the communicating."

"So is Ling pissy that his little sister's a world class drug lord while he's a bodyguard to a prick like you?" Envy asked.

"If I had to guess, I'd say yes." Ed said. "There's some kind of bad history between the two of them. I guess it has to do with their moms. He wasn't very specific about it."

"Hmm, I guess I'll just have to ask the squinty eyed bastard myself." Envy proclaimed.

"Come on, don't be racist." Ed joked.

"What? If Ling fell asleep standing up I wouldn't be able to tell the difference." Envy defended.

It was kind of true, Ed had to admit. Ling had mastered the ability of being able to see through eyes that looked to be closed.

"Don't say that around him, or Lan Fan for that matter." Ed said.

"I'd be more worried about the girlfriend." Envy said.

"You would be." Ed scoffed.

"Chicks are fucking dangerous." Envy shook his head.

"It's probably a good idea to keep that in mind for this meeting tonight." Ed brought up.

The car drove on until they came to the chosen meeting spot. The docks. Ed couldn't help but laugh at the cliched location.

"What's so funny?" Envy asked.

"It would just be so easy to shoot someone in the back of the head and dump them into the river." Ed said. "Greed certainly knows how to choose them."

"Maybe he's hoping that something will go wrong and we'll end up getting killed." Envy said, looking around the abandoned dock with skeptical eyes.

"Why would he want me dead?" Ed raised an eyebrow. "You I'd get, but why me?"

"There can be only one." Envy responded. "And Greed's favorite is obviously Al. The two of us are just pains in his stick shoved ass."

Ed chuckled and looked out the window towards the other side of the docks.

"So what have you heard about this Chang chick?" Ed asked.

"She's a fucking toddler." Envy answered. "Nasty fucking toddler though."

"How so?" Ed asked.

"I heard she once fed a man to a panda bear." Envy said.

"And on that note, they're here." Ed said, pointing out to the other end of the dock.

"About time." Envy said. "Let's get this over with."

"Got a blind date you need to get to?"

"Fuck you."

"Just remember to let me do the talking." Ed brought up as they moved to get out of the car. Ed stepped out first into the crisp night air and watched his brother follow him. "Wouldn't want you to scare them off."

"Hey, I'm just here to intimidate." Envy said as he stepped out, fixing his leather coat on his shoulders. "Though I was thinking about eating that big bodyguard of her's." He pointed over to the people they were about to meet with.

"Cannibalism, really?" Ed asked dryly.

"You gotta spice things up every once in awhile." Envy responded. "Besides, gotta do something to one up that Panda thing."

Around them, Jerso, Heinkel, Zampano, and Darius stepped out. All four of them were stone faced and wearing black trench coats. They were some of their father's strongest men; all of them standing at eye level with Scar. Ed looked them all over before turning back to look at their guests.

It appeared that Miss Chang had gotten the memo of bringing really big men for intimidation factor. On the other side of the dock there were at least half a dozen men standing together. They all appeared to be Xingese. Standing in between them was a much smaller form that Ed assumed was May Chang.

"Looks like she hasn't gotten any bigger." Ling said as he stepped out next to Ed.

"I thought you were going to wait in the car." Ed said.

"I'm not going to hide from her." Ling said. "Besides, its been awhile since I've seen any family."

"That's cute. Let's stop holding our dicks and get going." Envy cut in, walking past them towards the group of Xingese.

Ed and Ling followed, hearing Darius and the rest following them.

"Hey boss." Darius said to Ed. "If things go downhill, we light em up?"

Ed looked over at Ling who had an impassive look on his face.

"If they make it that way." Ed said, thinking about the handgun he had holstered under his coat.

The dock was mostly quiet. The only real sounds were the sounds of the city and the water moving against the dock. Eventually they came to a stop a short distance away from the other group. Ed looked to the side to gaze briefly at the tall glowing buildings of Central City. With a smile, he turned to look a Miss Chang.

"Hello everybody." He said warmly. "Welcome to Central."

May Chang was young, younger than Edward by a few years. She was also short, if Ed had to guess, she was around 5'2. She wore a rich looking green coat that had intricate golden Xingese designs on it. Ed looked for any resemblance between her and Ling. There were a few; they had a similar nose shape and the same dark hair color. Other than that there weren't many. She had a rounder face than Ling did and her eyes were much larger. Her black hair was done into six long pigtails that ran down her back. In her arms was an elderly looking black and white cat.

May Chang smiled. "Thank you, Mr Elric. It's a pleasure to be here."

Ed regarded this smile skeptically. She spoke in a foreign sounding accent that Ling lacked. Her eyes and smile revealed no ill intent, but it was easy to mask your true emotions. His father had perfected it. Her five bodyguards stood dutifully behind her with their arms folded behind their backs. Her big eyes moved from Edward to Ling.

"Ling, is that you? This is unexpected." She asked brightly. The cat in her arms meowed in response to the question. "Oh look, Shau May missed you."

"How is that damned thing still alive?" Ling asked incredulously as he stared at the mangy animal.

"As cute as this family reunion is, it's rather cold out and I'd like to get inside relatively quickly." Ed caught May's attention. "Now…how can we help each other?"

"Aren't you going to introduce me to your brother first?" May asked. "If we're going to help each other out than we should actually know each other."

Ed's mouth formed a small sarcastic smile. "If you insist." He held his arm out to introduce Envy. "May Chang, this is my brother Edgar. Edgar this is May Chang:"

"What's up?" Envy drawled from right behind Ed. He sounded a bit peeved at Ed using his real name.

"Thank you Edward." May nodded. "It's wonderful to meet you Envy."

"Likewise." Envy responded. The use of his nickname instantly brightened his spirits.

The smile that she gave made Ed pause. While her face looked bright and almost childish in demeanor, he could tell that the smile was fake. It was Chang's eyes that finally gave her away. A brief flash as her eyes traveled over the Elric Brothers and their entourage. She was sizing them up, probably trying to figure out which one was the most dangerous and who she'd kill first if things went south. Or, she could be determining if she should take them seriously. Ed figured that it could be either one.

"Now that we're all introduced to each other." Ed drawled. "I believe you've heard our family's offer?"

"Yes. Your lawyer, Gregory, was quite specific. Perhaps a little too much." Any previous playfulness was gone from her voice.

"Well he was excited to have you here." Ed said. "Though not nearly as excited as you have to be. How long did it take you to realize that you couldn't sidestep us?"

"Didn't take me long. You're family's...reputation is quite extensive. Sidestepping you would have been too much work. Any dealers I hired would either be scared or bought off by you. So I've decided to adhere the old phrase 'if you can't beat them, join them." May responded without missing a beat. "Speaking of sidestepping, I do have a question."

Ed held his arms out invitingly. "Ask away, Ms. Chang."

"Why go through all of this business of finding someone to manufacture and cook the drugs for you? Why not simply make the drugs yourself?" May asked with an arched eyebrow.

"Is that an elaborate way of saying no to the deal, then?" Envy chimed in.

May waved him off. "Let's not get ahead of ourselves, I'm merely curious."

Ed made sure to project a calm, nonchalant attitude. "Convenience mostly. This city is rather traditional, many of the powerful people aren't very fond of drugs. To them it's an ugly business. They'd rather make moonshine or rig horse races, like the good old days. But we're living in the 21st century, so gotta keep up. Plus from what I hear, your product is excellent."

"That's very forward thinking of you." May commented.

"And isn't it nice to make new friends?" Ed said. "But in all seriousness, our reasonings are not important. So here's how this is going to work. You produce in your workshops outside of the city's jurisdiction. Your products will be imported by several means, depending on the specifics of said produce. Once it is in the city's jurisdiction, we take control. We distribute it and the two of us share the benefits. 70% to us and 30% to you-"

"50%." May interrupted.

"30%." Ed said.

"50%." May repeated.

"35%. Remember you're only in this city by our permission." Ed countered.

There was a brief but tense silence as Ed and May stared each other down. Heinkel, Darius, Zampano, and Jerso readied themselves for anything. Across from them May's bodyguards were also preparing to get trigger happy. Eventually she shrugged.

"40%." May finished.

"40 can work." Ed said.

Around him, Ed could feel everyone relax as the tension lessened.

"Then I think we have a deal."

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

"So why the fuck did I even have to be there?" Envy asked as they drove away from the docks.

"In case it led to violence." Ed answered. "Thankfully it didn't."

"You did good up there." Envy grinned. "I mean you were adorable. Talking all tough, taking names and all that shit. You were like a little dad."

Ed gave a small growl at Envy's use of the word 'little'.

"I'm going to give Al a call, let him know how it went." Ed said, pulling out his phone. He hit Al's contact. After a minute, his younger brother picked up.

"Did it go well?" Al asked.

"Yeah, without a hitch." Ed answered.

"Envy didn't kill anyone?" Al followed up.

"No he was very well behaved." Ed answered.

"Are you talking about me?" Envy looked over.

"Let dad know that Chang will be back in a week with some samples of her production." Ed said. "I'll follow up with her. I don't think Envy needs to be there."

"I will." Al said. "Oh, I almost forgot to tell you."

"What?" Ed asked.

"I ran into your girlfriend the other day."

Ed only briefly stopped to consider what it said about him with that he knew exactly who his brother was talking about. Winry.

"First impressions?" Ed asked.

" _Interesting_." Al said, stretching the word.

"Did she ask about me?" Ed asked grinning.

"As a matter of fact, yes." Al answered, surprising Ed a bit. He hadn't actually thought that Winry would seriously ask about him.

"What the fuck did you tell her?" His eyes narrowed.

"What's going on over there?" Envy asked, glancing over from his seat to his younger brother.

"You don't even know what she asked about." Ed could hear Al laughing on the other end.

"Is it about a girl?" Envy asked, starting to sound irritated.

"Doesn't matter." Ed said to Al. "I know _you_."

"Come on guys." Envy whined. "You know I hate being left out of shit like this."

"Shut up, Envy." Ed glanced over at his brother.

"Don't worry I didn't tell her anything too embarrassing." Al said, his grin audible through the phone. "I'm happy for you Ed. She seems sweet."

"Don't even start with that shit again." Ed turned back to the phone.

Al chuckled at the anger in Edward's tone. "I'm just kidding Ed. To be honest I found her to be pretty charming. Maybe I might ask her librarian friend for her phone number." He made sure to say this in the smuggest tone possible.

"Al!" Ed grumbled warningly. He decided not to question why that annoyed him more then it should have.

"No need to be so defensive, brother. I was only joking." Al said. "Unless you are legitimately interested in this girl?"

"She's just a friendly acquaintance…and a recently rediscovered childhood friend." Ed said. "Yeah, I think she's hot. Yes, she's interesting. But that doesn't mean I have to bang her."

"Aha! So you are talking about a girl." Envy smiled triumphantly.

"Will you just jump out of this car or something?" Ed glared at Envy before focusing back on the phone. "So where did you see her?"

"What, are you hoping to 'accidentally' bump into her?" Al asked cheekily.

"Ha ha, very funny." Ed monotoned.

"Well for your information, I met her at the library." Al informed him before pausing. "Hey brother can I ask you a question?"

Ed glanced at Envy who was un-subtly trying to eavesdrop on their conversation. "That depends, am I going to like this question?"

"Probably not."

Ed leaned back into his chair and sighed. "Fine, go ahead and ask away."

"Okay." Al's voice briefly got staticky as they passed through a dead zone. "Tell me, have you had sex with any women since you first met Winry?"

There was a long silence before Ed responded. "What the hell are you suggesting?" He growled, clearly irritated.

"Well, have you?"

"You seriously need to get laid, Al." Ed sighed. "Just tell dad the deal went well. I'm on my way to the Xerxes after we stop at the palace."

"Ok, I'll let him know." Al responded.

"This day has been too long." Ed grumbled before hanging up.

"So were you two talking about that sexy Rockbell chick?" Envy asked with a grin.

Ed threw his phone at him.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Back in Yoki's office:**

"No, I can't say I've ever heard of a Solf J. Kimblee." Shou Tucker confessed.

Yoki sighed. Well it was worth a shot. If Shou of all people hadn't heard of him that meant Kimblee was either very careful, or just a nobody who knew how to put on a good show.

"So remind me." Shou continued. "Who was this man again?"

Yoki straightened up in chair, he brought the phone closer to his ear. "Uh it's nothing. Thanks anyways Shou."

"You're welcome my friend. By the way, I've heard through the grapevine that Armstrong lost her key witness against you. How did you manage to pull that one off?"

Yoki swallowed nervously. "I'll…uh tell you later. Not really something to discuss over the phone."

"Alright." Shou said. "By the way, it has been awhile since you've enjoyed one of my establishments. Would you like for me to give you a congratulatory treat? I've found a new girl who's just perfect for you. She's far younger than the last one."

"Maybe sometime soon." Yoki said.

"My door is always open for you, my friend." And with that, Shou hung up.

Yoki slowly placed his phone down and glanced over at his desk. The black cell phone was still where he'd left it. 'Should I have told Shou?' He wondered. Tucker and him had been allies in the Central underworld for years. You could call them friends. Yet for some reason Yoki was hesitant to truly discuss Kimblee with him.

'But why? Because I found him…intimidating.' Hell intimidating wasn't really the word to describe the effect that Kimblee had caused in him. That man with his haunting eyes and chilling voice had unnerved him like no other. The dark aura he emitted was almost supernatural. Even now, Yoki felt like he was somehow watching him.

At that moment the black cellphone rang.

Yoki would never admit to anyone that he yelped like a dog. It took him a moment to regain his composure before he approached his desk. Realizing that making them wait might be bad, Yoki quickly grabbed the phone and pressed answer.

"Hello?" He said in a cautious tone.

"Good evening, Mr. Youswell. I hear that you've been asking about me."

Yoki blanched a little. "I, uh, just wanted to see if you had approached anyone else." He stuttered out. He recognized the voice of Kimblee.

A low chuckled came from the phone. "Or you're still not entirely convinced that allying yourself with me would be a successful venture. Thus you called Tucker to try and find out more about me."

Yoki's eyes widened. "How did you know-"

"I must say that I'm rather disappointed by your doubts. I thought that I'd made myself very clear last night. Perhaps you simply need more convincing."

"What would that entail?" Yoki asked with a nervous voice.

"The fear that I hear in your voice is unnecessary." Kimblee said. "What would I gain from harming you? No, it will not be your blood that will be spilled tonight."

Yoki was silent for several moments. "Then who's blood will be spilled?"

"Mr. Youswell, I hope you understand the amount of trust that I have placed in you. Last night I shared with you my plans for this city and it's current rulers. Tell me Yoki, do you hate Van Hohenheim?" The words were spoken so smoothly and yet threateningly at the same time.

Yoki glanced around before answering. "Yes."

"Do you hate his sons, particularly Edward Elric?"

"Yes."

Kimblee gave another dark chuckle. "Then I hope it'll please you to know that the blood of a Hohenheim will be spilled this very night."

Yoki's jaw dropped. "What?"

"Keep an eye on the news, Mr. Youswell." Kimblee said. "Tonight is the beginning of the end for the Hohenheim family."

With that, Kimblee hung up leaving a speechless Yoki alone in his office.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

Ed let out a tired sigh as he leaned back into the driver's seat. He was holding the wheel with his right arm while his left was at his side. Thankfully the streets were mostly empty. He was on his way back down to the city after stopping at the Manor. As he drove he couldn't help but think about his earlier conversation with Al.

" _Yeah, I think she's hot. Yes, she's interesting. But that doesn't mean I have to bang her."_

The answer to Al's earlier question about his recent sex life would have been no. Yep, Edward had not had sex with any women since he first met Winry. 'It's just a damn coincidence.' Ed told himself. 'I've been busy, that's all. It doesn't prove anything…or does it?'

While his Aunt had told him to stay away, his father had pretty much given him permission to pursue her if he wanted. Not that he needed either of their blessings. It was an interesting thought to at least consider. Winry Rockbell was an exceptionally attractive woman. He found her to truly be very intriguing, whether it was the blunt way she talked to him or their shared history. Plus she was smart, witty, and had a backbone to match. She had verbally sparred with him several times during the course of their interactions. She wasn't very scared or intimidated by who he was, or was at least good enough at hiding it. If she was truly afraid of him, she wouldn't have called him several days earlier. Also, during their time at the coffee shop Winry had seemed to be genuinely enjoying their conversation. Whatever it was between them, maybe it could turn into something more.

'I wonder how Winry would react if I legitimately asked her out?' Ed pondered before chucking. 'She'd probably think it be a joke at first.'

It had taken him some thinking, but Ed had figured out why he liked talking to her. It was also why he was comfortable with telling her certain things about himself and the family. It was because she was different. Winry wasn't part of his world. He didn't have be Van Hohenheim's son when he was around her. He didn't have to maintain his image or act all tough. He could just be himself.

'The only real problem would be seeing Al's smug face.' Ed thought as he drove through the twisty roads. 'He'd never let me live it down.'

He knew his brother had been baiting him earlier. Alphonse obviously had no interest in pursuing any kind of romantic relationship with Winry Rockbell. As a matter of fact, he seemed uninterested in pursuing a romantic relationship with anyone as of lately.

'Maybe he's asexual." Ed thought with a chuckle.

There was a stop sign coming up at a four way intersection so he decided to take the moment to stop the car. It was about 12:46 at the moment. He didn't expect to be in bed until at least 4:00 a.m. Thankfully he could sleep in the next day.

'No rest for the wicked.' He laughed in his head.

He heard a car coming down from the right, but he ignored it. He needed to send Russell a text asking him when several orders that he had made would come in.

Suddenly the sounds of the incoming vehicle accelerating caught his attention and the inside of his car lit up.

Ed only had enough time to look at oncoming headlights barreling towards him before there was a loud crashing sound. The entire car jolted from the impact and Edward's head slammed into the left side window. The glass cracked as the car skidded to a stop.

'What the fuck…' Ed groaned as he tried to regain his bearings. The impact of his head against the window had sent him reeling and opened up a gash in his forehead. Blood dripped down the side of Edward's face as he opened his eyes. He blinked in a daze and turned to look at the car that had hit him.

It was backing up.

"Asshole." Ed mumbled, his hand fumbling with the seat belt.

Suddenly the car accelerated forward, slamming into Ed again. He was now pinned against the guard rail.

"Shit!" Glass from the windshield exploded and showered him in the shards. Ed winced as the the sharp projectiles hit him in the face. This fucker was hitting him on purpose! Ed reached desperately for his gun. It was currently out of his holster and had been left on the passenger seat. Unfortunately it had been knocked below the seat by the impacts. He couldn't reach it.

 _Crash!_

"Fuck!"

This crash caused the car to start compacting in on itself. Ed swore viciously as his right arm was pinned between the seat and the glove box. Whoever was hitting him had a big car and it was crushing his smaller vehicle. Gritting his teeth, Ed frantically tried to free his arm from where it was trapped. Suddenly the sound of tires screeching signaled that his attacker was coming back for another hit.

 _Crash!_

Ed screamed as his arm was crushed even more as the car's interior grew even smaller. A loud snapping sound sounded throughout the car. Tears filled his eyes, it felt like the bone had been completely broken in two. Lost in the blinding pain of his right arm, Edward failed to notice that his left leg had been pinned between the driver's seat and the dented car door.

 _Crash!_

"AAARRRGGGHHH!"

The pain was excruciating! It felt like his arm and leg were being ground into dust. He could feel the broken bones grinding against each other and cutting into the muscles around them. When he looked back at his arm he could see a jagged bone was poking its way through the skin. His torn jacket sleeve was dark with blood. Ed fruitlessly hit at the surface of his car with his left hand, trying to get his limbs free. Hearing the sound of the other car's engine, he looked up. The bright headlights had backed up to the other end of the street. It's engines revved tauntingly before it shot forward like a bullet. Ed was momentarily blinded by the high beams before all he saw was black.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **So it begins...**

 **Please Review!**


	13. Chapter 13

**Damn. Thank you for all the reviews! Sorry that it's taken me a while to get this chapter out. I just got back to college and needed a few weeks to get back into the swing of things. I will do my best to update as quickly as I can.**

 **Aggie12:** I'm sorry to say but you won't be getting Winry's reaction this chapter. Though you will get Van's. Needless to say, he won't be happy.

 **LoveroftheWord:** The brothers are turning out to be one of my favorite things to write. I knew that I was going to have to end a chapter the way I did. Who doesn't love a cliffhanger?

 **Mother Of The Universe:** I'm glad that Kimblee's off to a good start. I always do my best to put as much attention on the antagonists of my stories as I can. Good job on summarizing all of the different plots happening in this story. I couldn't have done it better myself. In fact, some of your predictions have given me some ideas. For your last question about why Kimblee targeted Ed after setting him up with Winry...you'll see.

 **Joker Oak:** I'm really sorry this took so long. I hope you still had some patience left. But you're right, so it begins.

 **Dance along the light of day:** Thank you, I'm looking forward to writing to more Ed and Winry scenes.

 **:** I'd thought of several ways for Ed to get his automail. I settled on a car collision.

 **Hirude:** I don't usually read many fics with May in it, so I'm kind of always winging it when it comes to her character. What I loved about her from the show was that she was this tiny adorable little girl, but underneath she was a badass. I'm doing my best to keep those character traits while also making her a drug lord.

 **Frankensnow** : It was strangly satisfying to write that scene. Usually my stories involve Winry getting tortured a lot but I'm going to do my best to not repeat that. It appears that Ed is my new victim :)

 **Vhosek:** There is definitely a lot more going on in the background. This version of Kimblee enjoys watching from the shadows. I hope this chapter satisfies some of your curiosity. This will have a big impact on the characters, especially Ed and Winry's relationship. You'll start to see that in the next chapter.

 **bloodynessie:** Winry's going to try.

 **SleepinBeautyK:** All I'm at liberty to say is, you'll see.

 **The King in White:** I'm glad you're a fan. I usually love these types of Edwin Au's and I always wanted to write one.

 **ZeelRONY:** I wanted to do a lot of world building before the main story kicked I think that I should have done more of that in the beginning of my other story Princess Bride. For Kingdom I decided to build the characters and the world before diving into the main action. I'm glad it paid off.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

A black limo sped through the streets. It cut other cars off and ran red lights. The driving was fast, but also careful enough so that it wouldn't flip or crash. People cursed and honked their car horns at it, but not one cop car tried to pull it over. They knew who the limo belonged to.

"Where is he now?" Van Hohenheim asked, trying to remain sitting up straight while the limo took a hard right turn at an intersection. He was dressed in his usual dark brown suit and brown coat. Van had been just about to turn in for the night when he got the call. Even before bed, he had still been wearing his 'work' suit. Everything about his outfit was perfectly immaculate and crisp despite the alarming situation. He was currently talking into his phone.

"They just brought him into the emergency room. Oh Christ, I think they said he was in extensive care!" The voice was slightly muffled from the bad reception but Hohenheim could still hear the hysteria in his youngest son's voice.

"Alphonse. Listen to me." Van ordered, his voice practically a monotone. "I need you to calm down. Do you know anything?"

No…I…th-they're not telling me anything!" His son exclaimed. Al may have been the best behaved of Van's sons, but that didn't mean he was grace under pressure.

"Do you know which doctor is operating on him?" Van questioned further.

"A guy uh...s-some guy named Marcoh I think." Al said with a slight stutter. "Yeah, it's a doctor named Tim Marcoh."

'Good.' Van thought before speaking again. "Who is with you right now? Is there anyone with Edward?"

"Ling's here with me." His son answered. "And no, they didn't let him in the room with Ed. We're outside the surgery room."

"Wait there." Van ordered. "Izumi is on her way. She'll secure the hospital."

"What about you?" His youngest asked him.

"I need to make more calls." Van answered. "Wait for Izumi, I should arrive shortly after her."

"Okay...oh shit...does Envy know?"

"Possibly." Van informed him. "We're still trying to reach him. I'll see you soon, Alphonse."

With that final command, he disconnected with his son. Van then quickly hit the contact of the next person with whom he needed to speak. There were many things that needed to be done and little time to do them. Thankfully his next call was answered quickly.

"Commissioner Raven." Van spoke into the phone, his voice the same authoritarian tone that he had used with Alphonse.

"Good evening Van." The Police Commissioner of Central said. "I've just gotten word about your son. I'd like to-"

"Who's investigating the crash?" Van cut him off. They were past the small talk.

"Uhh, well, the call was picked up by a patrol officer from the 23rd District." Raven informed him, not missing a beat despite the rude interruption.

'Roy Mustang's district.' Van thought briefly before speaking again.

"Send him to meet me at the hospital." Van ordered the commissioner. He had enough confidence in Raven to trust that the man knew who _he_ was. He expected Mustang to be at the hospital within the hour. They had many important things to discuss.

Without any more words to the high ranking public servant, Van hung up. He then proceeded to call his third contact number.

"Izumi, where are you right now?" It was a question, but it still came out as a demand.

"Ten minutes from the hospital." His sister answered him. "You?"

"Seven minute give or take." Van answered glancing at a passing street sign. "Al is there alone with Ling Yao. How many men do you have with you?"

"Twenty." Izumi informed him. "Its the most I could get in such short notice."

"Call in another fifteen more once you arrive." Van ordered. "Secure the floor that Edward's on along with joining ones above and below. Once the other's arrive place ten of them at the entrances and exits of the building. No one comes in or out without our eyes on them. I want the five left in the security room viewing the camera feeds." The Hohenheims had an almost limitless supply of hired muscle that they could call in at a moments notice. In moments of crisis like this they were especially useful.

"Yes Van." Izumi's assertive tone said before her voice grew softer. "Have you heard anything about Ed?"

"No." Van said.

There was a pregnant silence before she spoke again. "I'll see you at the hospital then." Izumi said. "Don't worry Van, Ed is strong. He'll make it."

"Make it to the hospital in less than eight." He ordered before hanging up.

Opening his eyes, Van looked over at the dark haired woman across from him. "Lyra, I want you to get a copy of every witness statement and camera footage of the crash. I want to know if this was an accident or if Edward was intentionally targeted."

"Yes sir." She nodded. The young woman held a phone in her hand as well. She had been making other phone calls on behalf of him. Every asset in the city was now on high alert.

Van leaned back into the leather seat behind him. Scar was driving the limo so he would be the one to secure the lobby. Fu had gone to the crime scene to both observe and also speak with the first responders. Van expected little to no resistance on the part of the hospital's staff in respect to his people's presence. The hospital's director, a middle aged man named Knox, hadn't acquired the esteemed position simply from merit alone. They was going to have no problem from them. In return he'd make sure his own people wouldn't disrupt anything or anyone.

Van had been in his study when he received the call from Director Knox informing him of his son's accident. Van then proceeded to call both Alphonse and Izumi to inform them before rushing to the hospital. That had been about twenty minutes earlier. Since the Xerxes was in a closer proximity to the hospital, Alphonse and Ling Yao had arrived much quicker. Lyra had come with him, making similar phone calls to spread the news to others who were needed. Edgar would know soon enough.

Gregory had been asleep and was woken by Lyra's call ten minutes earlier. Now that the lawyer was awake, Gregory was handling any media exposure. Eventually word of this accidnet would reach the papers and the radio. It needed to be contained. For now, only a handful needed to know about his son's accident.

'An accident.' He thought with a frown. 'Was it really just that?'

Edward had proven on multiple occasions that he can be both very foolish and extremely reckless. He'd gotten drunk in the past and had some altercations while driving. So the outcome that this was just an accident was possible. Despite that, years of living the way that he had left Hohenheim with a certain outlook on life. Nothing could be above suspicion. Van's eyes moved to gaze out the car window as his mind raged inside him.

And neither would anyone who may have been involved.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Central General Hospital:**

Izumi practically stomped on the breaks as the convoy came up to the entrance of Central Hospital. Her car had barely just come to a screeching halt before she was out of it. The former soldier quickly made her way towards the large glass doors. The men that she had brought with her fell in behind. She had trained them well. A family of three eyed the group nervously as they walked out through the sliding doors. Izumi paid them no mind and turned back towards her men.

"Cars one, two, and three. Locate all exits and entrances. Secure them. I don't want anyone entering or exiting without you seeing them." She ordered to the men walking behind her. Her voice was harsh and stern, like a drill sergeant. "Car four. Locate the security room."

The sliding doors opened for her and she stormed in. Her eyes were narrowed as she gave a quick one over of the lobby. There were no discernible threats in the vicinity. Only confused patients and nervous staff members to be seen. It seemed that by now that everyone in the hospital knew who they were. 'Good. Now they'll know not to get in my way.' She spun on her heel to look a the men following her.

"Move." She said and like a well trained army battalion, they all moved to follow her orders. Fifteen men all adorned in black trench coats and hats spread out across the hospital.

Izumi turned around to look over the large room again. The walls were a typical white that you'd expect from a hospital and there were blue chairs for waiting. Fake plants and useless paintings littered the walls, no doubt trying to give this building of death a more lively appearance. She could see that there were some children here as well. They seemed curious of the people who had just entered, but their parents did their best to block their views. Almost everyone else in the waiting area avoided eye contact. So far, no one showed any sign of deserving her attention. But she had two loaded pistols strapped to her hips just in case.

As she stood there in the middle of the lobby Izumi felt a disturbing sense of deja vu. This wasn't the first time someone she loved had ended up on death's door in this hospital. Twice it had happened. Once to a child who had never lived. A child she had never gotten the chance to call her own.

The second was the night that Trisha had died. Izumi had arrived in a similar fashion that fateful day. She had actually stood in this very lobby when she'd heard the tragic news from Scar.

Trisha had been in and out of the hospital for about three weeks before she came in for the last time. Everytime she came in the doctors had been sure they knew what was ailing her. But everytime her condition seemed to only get worse and worse. It had been unbearable to watch the woman slowly die one day at a time. It had been made worse by the fact that Ed and Al had a front row seat to their mother's decline. Eventually, after slipping into unconsciousness for five hours Tricia finally passed with the boys in the hallway and Van sitting next to her.

Footsteps caught her attention and Izumi's eyes snapped to see a rather timid looking nurse approaching her.

"Miss Curtis." The nurse said meekly, looking up at the imposing woman who towered over her. "Y-your brother told me to show you to him once you arrived."

"Lead on." Izumi said simply, looking down at the smaller female in front of her. The nurse nodded and started to walk with Izumi following behind.

'Dear god Edward. What have you gotten yourself into now?' Izumi thought with a sigh. Van had said over the phone that he was currently in critical condition. Her fists clenched as dark thoughts entered her mind. If this was no accident then there would be nothing that could stand between her and the ones who had hurt her nephew. She would personally see that everyone involved would wish they'd never been born. The full might and fury of the Hohenheim family would be unleashed without mercy or restraint.

She followed the nurse into the elevator. The girl hit the button to the floor and almost seemed to cower in the corner as Izumi stood in the center.

"You'll find your uh…people down the hallway." The nurse said in barely a whisper. Izumi was surprised that the girl's timid voice was able to reach her from the one foot distance.

The doors slid open on the fourth floor and Izumi stepped out. She was currently dressed in her formal white coat. Usually she would have opted for her sleeveless one, but for serious matters such as this she donned the one with sleeves. It was buttoned down until her waist where it flared out at her hips, trailing behind her as she walked. The flip flops that she wore smacked against the ground.

There was a desk at the corner where two hallways intersected. A brief glance of the hallway showed that this floor was especially busy. Attendants were everywhere answering phones calls and moving to get to patients. Izumi looked past all of them and caught sight of a large man with an X shaped scar.

"Scar." Izumi called out as she approached him, walking past nurses and doctors.

The man's red eyes turned to her. "They're down the hallway." He informed her in his gruff voice. "I'm going to the security room to talk with the person in charge there."

"Do you know anything about Edward?" She asked.

"He's still alive." Was all Scar said before he moved on.

Izumi watched the large man leave. He had been unable to maintain eye contact with her throughout their brief interaction. Years of knowing him told her that he was upset. Protecting Edward had been his job for many years. Although he'd never admit it out loud to anyone, the Ishvalan no doubt greatly cared for her nephew. Izumi wondered if Scar was blaming himself, despite Edward no longer being under his watch.

She walked on until she came across the group clustered outside of the surgery room that Edward was in.

Alphonse was pacing back and forward in front of the closed door. Ling Yao was leaning against the wall with his arms folded. Roa and Dolcetto were standing guard with each one facing down opposite ends of the hallway. Van was seated in the middle of it all, his back straight and face calm. Roa was the first to notice her and gave Izumi a respectful nod before stepping out of the way to let her pass. Al's face immediately brightened when he saw her. Izumi gave him a calming smile and she pulled her youngest nephew into a hug.

"How are you holding up?" She asked, holding him close.

"I don't know." He sighed. "Ed's in surgery right now."

She pulled back and gave him a reassuring nod. She turned to look at Van who was sitting like a statue. His eyes met her's.

"I'll make my rounds." She told her brother. "Then report back in fifteen."

"Make it ten." Was all he said.

Izumi nodded, gave Al a quick pat on the shoulder and went off.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **The Fourth Floor:**

Al had finally stopped pacing about five ago. Now he just stood against the wall with his hands in his pockets. His shirt had the top few buttons undone and his jacket had been haphazardly thrown over a chair. The youngest Hohenheim was stuck in an almost trance like state until a commanding voice cut through the fog in his mind.

"Alphonse."

Al turned his head up to look at his father.

"You'll be taking over negotiations with Chang." His father said.

"What?" Al asked.

"Regardless to the outcome of Edward's current situation, he will be unable to continue meeting with May Chang." Van clarified. "You will negotiate with her this week and continue doing so until you have finalized the entire arrangement."

Al was quiet as he stared at his father. It always had to be business with him. He could never allow himself any moments to be human. Edward was possibly dying in the room next to them and all their father had to say was for him to take over Ed's job.

"Yeah." He spoke in a quiet voice. "I'll do it."

"Do you believe yourself capable of doing so?" Van asked. His eyes searching behind his glasses.

"Can we talk about this tomorrow?" Al asked, only a slight hint of bitterness leaking into his voice.

Van arched an eyebrow at his son's tone, but he nodded anyway. The patriarch then turned back to look at the double doors down the hall. Al watched him for a few moments before scoffing. Would it kill their father to be a goddamn human for once?

"How do we know it wasn't her?"

Both Alphonse and Van turned towards Ling whose face had morphed into a scowl. "How we know it wasn't May Chang who did this?"

Al looked from Ling to his father, unsure of how to respond. Van's face didn't change at all. "Ling, it is too early to assume such things." The older Hohenheim spoke with a sigh.

"Assume?" Ling spat in a tone that he'd never normally use when speaking to Van. "Edward meets with her and less then an hour later he's almost killed. Do you think that's just a fucking coincidence because I don't!"

Van's emotionless eyes now glared at him, causing Ling to shut his mouth. "Don't let your family squabbles cloud your judgment." Ling was about to speak when Van continued talking.

"But you are right about the rather suspicious timing of this. It would be a shame if your sister was foolish enough to be behind this." Van turned his attention away from Ling. "Don't concern yourself with Ms. Chang. I will handle her personally."

This seemed to satisfy Ling who went back to sulking against the wall. Al watched him for a few seconds before glancing back at the entrance to the surgery room.

'When they said Ed had been in a car crash, I thought it would just be a few scratches.' Al thought as he stood in the middle of the hallway. 'Edward's always been indestructible. Even when we were kids, I'd crash my bike and end up in a cast. But Ed, no matter what happened to him he always walked away with a confident grin on his face. Climbing trees in the backyard, or picking fights with older kids. Hell, when those drugged up morons tried to shoot him weeks ago he came out without a scratch. But now…' Al's hands clenched into fists as dreadful thoughts entered his head.

"No." Al muttered under his breath. 'Brother is not going to die!'

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

Ling watched the Hohenhiems as they dealt with this situation in their own ways. Al's anxiety was palpable while Hohenheim senior was as stoic as ever. He had only gotten a brief glance at Izumi, but she seemed to holding together pretty well. All of them looked tired however. Some hid it better than others, but the fatigue was showing in their eyes. Hell, Ling was tired too. It was almost 2 o'clock in the morning. He had just been about to turn in when he heard about Ed's accident. From looking at everyone else, they'd been about to sleep or had been dragged out of bed.

Ling stood there, leaning restlessly against the wall. He did so for several minutes before giving a aggravated sigh. Reaching into his pocket, Ling pulled out his cellphone and opened his contacts. Right now Fu was at the scene of Ed's crash trying to dig up any information. It was probably not good to disturb him, but Ling couldn't take this standing around anymore. The silence was maddening, as was the feeling of helplessness. Down the hallway and through a set of doors, a team of surgeons were trying to keep his best friend alive. They hadn't been told what exactly his injuries were, only that he was in critical condition.

So Ling needed to get away; if only for a moment. Walking away from the O.R., Ling stood in the entrance of the men's room as he began the call. The dial rang for a few moments before it beeped.

"Ling." Fu's gruff voice greeted him, not sounding all that surprised that he'd called. "How are things up at Central Hospital?"

Ling sighed and leaned back against the bland white colored wall. "The same, Edward's still in surgery. No word on his condition."

"I can imagine that's not very reassuring." Fu commented.

"I know!" Ling ground out. "Who do these O.R. fuckers think they are? Don't they knew who _we_ are? Why are they jerking us around like-"

"Ling, calm down." Fu'a voice cut through his ranting. "Getting angry at the people trying to save Edward is not going to help anyone." His former mentor then paused for a moment before asking. "How are you holding up?"

"Fine. I don't…I don't want to talk about that. Tell me about crash site. What's going on down there?"

"I am allowing the investigators to finish before I begin my inquiries." Fu told him. "What I have learned so far I must discuss with Mr. Hohenheim first."

Meanwhile as Ling talked to Fu on the phone, one of their men walked up to Van.

"Mr. Hohenheim." He said. "Roy Mustang is on his way"

Van didn't move to look at the man or change his position in the chair.

"Once he arrives, have him meet me in the board of directors' room." The king of Central said finally.

The enforcer raised an eyebrow. "Are we allowed in there?"

"Just do as I say." Van said, still not looking at the man.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **The Security Room:**

'He might die.'

Scar watched the security feeds as he thought this. Years of experience had taught him that no human is invincible, if anything, they're just lucky. Mr. Hohenheim had been lucky the night that someone took some shots off at him. He was lucky because the shooter had hit him in the chest while Van had been wearing a bulletproof vest. If he had been shot in the head, then Central would currently be under a new king.

Van Hohenheim's luck had, more or less, never run out.

But it appeared that Edward's luck finally had.

Scar was standing behind the men that have commandeered the room. They were the enforcers that Izumi had brought with her. The usual security guards that manned these camera feeds had left the room once they had entered. There was about half a dozen of their men looking at all the feeds, checking every inch of this hospital for any suspicious activity. Scar stood behind them, slowly walking, glancing at the different entrances and exits as they appeared on the flickering screens. So far, they were all covered and there was nothing too concerning. His red gaze moved to the one that showed Van and Alphonse outside of the surgery room. They hadn't moved since Van had sent him off to oversee the surveillance. On another feed he could see Izumi making her way around the hospital. The stoic woman looked as strong and unbreakable as ever.

'For a time, I almost believed Edward was unbreakable.'

He thought of the young man whom he had known since his day of birth. Edward had always been strong, even back when Scar had to walk him from the bulletproof limo to his first grade classroom.

 _"Protect them from those who wish to harm them, yet don't shelter them from the truth."_

Those had been the words Mr. Hohenheim had told him when they had first met. The two of them had many more important conversations over the years, but those words stuck with him ever since.

 **Flashback begins.**

 **16 years ago:**

Something was definitely bothering Edward. The usually talkative boy hadn't said a single word since they left the estate. Edward had been staring at his lap for the last ten minutes. Scar glanced back at the golden haired boy before looking at the road in front of them. They were currently in a black SUV. Scar was in the front while Edward sat in the back.

Now Scar had never been one for conversation, but it was somehow different this time. He knew what Edward's father had told the boy yesterday. Ed had gone to his father and learned the truth about the family.

"Edward?"

Ed jumped and looked up. Scar's red eyes were looking at him through the rearview mirror.

"Yeah." He answered quietly.

"What's wrong?"

For the first time ever, Ed seemed a bit intimidated by how deep and emotionless Scar's voice was. Despite that, he answered.

"Nothing."

Scar's eyes were back on the road and they drove in silence for a few more moments. When they stopped at a red light, those red eyes once again shown through the mirror. Eventually Scar decided to stop beating around the bush and just go for it.

"Are you afraid of me?" He asked bluntly.

In the back seat he saw Ed jump again, apparently caught off guard by the directness of the question.

"N-no." He stuttered. "I...I…"

"Calm down, Edward." Scar said, waiting for Ed to be quiet. "Now, do you find me intimidating?"

Ed bit his lip uncertainly. Scar recalled once overhearing Tricia telling Edward to always be truthful to people who were there to help him.

"Yes." He mumbled. "A little."

"Why?" Scar asked.

"Because...you….I don't know." Ed admitted ashamedly as he looked down at his lap.

"You know my job is to protect you, right?" Scar asked in a calm voice.

"Yes." Ed muttered. Scar noticed his cheeks seemed to redden slightly, almost like it embarrassed the youth to admit it.

"And your younger brother, Alphonse?"

"Yes. What about Edgar?"

"Your older brother doesn't need much protection." Scar answered before locking eyes with his ten year old passenger. "You don't have to be afraid of me, Edward." He said. "I would never hurt you."

"It's not you...exactly." Ed mumbled quietly.

"So you're afraid of why I have to protect you." Scar said as his eyes subtlety flashed in realization. "You're wondering what's out there that prompts someone like me has to have to defend you?"

Ed nodded.

Scar let out a sigh, and for a few moments Ed could see the wheels turning in his head.

"I recommend you have another discussion with your father." Scar said. "He's a better talker than me."

"Okay, mister." Ed answered.

"Call me Scar." His large bodyguard said. "We can become friends Ed."

"Umm...ok." Ed said. "...Scar."

 **Flashback End**

Scar had done his best to fulfill Mr. Hohenheim's request. For years he'd guarded Edward, Alphonse, and Trisha Hohenheim. He gave the family his complete and utter loyalty. Threats had been prominent for many of those early years. He'd often found himself on high alert whenever Mrs. Hohenheim and the boys were out. There had been several instances where his skills had been necessary to keep them all safe. Trisha had always trusted him. She had been trusting almost to a fault. Despite everything, Mrs. Hohenheim's kindness never wavered. Keeping her and the children safe had probably been Scar's proudest moments.

A disease, however, was something that Scar could not protect against and Mrs. Hohenheim was taken from them. Soon after that, Ed and Al grew up in more ways than one. He no longer had to protect them. The scene that he was witnessing on the security feed was very familiar to the one from years ago. They had all been gathered in this very same hospital, waiting to hear if someone dear to them was going to live or die. Edward had been one of those people waiting. Scar remembered Van in the days that had followed. The man who had entered that hospital had not been the same man who had left it. If this night ended similarly, Scar didn't want to know what this would do to his friend and employer.

It was going to be a truly long night for all of them.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Outside of the hospital:**

"What do you think sir?"

Roy Mustang looked at Central Memorial Hospital from the passenger's seat of his car. Sitting next to him in the driver's seat was Detective Jean Havoc. Havoc had pulled the short straw and ended up as the one to accompany the captain on this trip. Although Roy liked Havoc and thought him to be a great detective, he'd have felt better if Riza was with him. She would have known what to say to him. So far Mustang had been quiet the entire drive from the precinct. It wasn't everyday he received a phone call from the Police Commissioner of the city acting as a messenger from a mobster.

The king had called forth his loyal subjects.

It was moments like this when this city almost got to him.

"He'll probably want me to give a loyalty pledge for the precinct's part in this investigation." Mustang said, finally breaking his silence. Next to him, Havoc lit a cigarette.

"Seriously?" His friend raised an eyebrow as he popped the cigarette into his mouth.

"At least something along those lines." Mustang continued, looking away from the busy building to glance at his friend. "A few years back something happened to the Hohenheim's lawyer Gregory Dahlman; do you know who that is?"

"Hohenheim's ultimate shield?" Havoc asked with a scoff. "Yeah, I know who he is."

"Well he was attacked in an alley outside of his restaurant, The Devil's Nest." Roy continued. "He'd gone out for a smoke and apparently someone stabbed him in the arm while trying to go for his wallet. Captain Miles' district had been the one to pick it up. That night Miles was called in by Van Hohenheim himself to talk."

Havoc took the cigarette out of his mouth for a moment to blow out a puff of smoke, watching the captain talk.

"Miles went to the meeting without question. Not that I could merit myself for doing anything different. I hear the meeting didn't last longer than ten minutes. I'm sure whatever Hohenheim said to Miles, he's going to say the same thing to me tonight." Mustang finished.

"Yeah, but in that case, it was his lawyer getting stabbed in the arm." Havoc said. "This is his son getting in a freaking car accident. He's probably going to be a bit more invested in this one."

"It hasn't been ruled as an accident just yet." Mustang corrected. "For all we know, this could have been an attempt on his life."

Havoc was silent for a moment. His fingers tapping animatedly on the wheel of the car. "Jesus." He muttered. "Do you think someone would really have the balls to do that?"

"They have before." Havoc could see the wheels turning in Mustang's head. "Hohenheim also might be simply calling me up to tell me to stay out of his way." The car was quiet for several moments before Havoc spoke again.

"So what ever happened to that guy who stabbed Dalhman? Did they catch him?"

"Oh that? Miles' detective's found the suspect about a day after the stabbing" Mustang went back to looking at the hospital. "They found him in the alley that the stabbing had occurred in. His genitals were in his mouth and his severed tongue was shoved up the hole that the castration had left. Both his eyes had been plucked out and stuffed into the opposite socket."

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **The first floor:**

Izumi moved out of the way of an oncoming bed on wheels that was being pushed by two nurses. It's patient didn't have any noticeable injuries, but by the quick words going back and forward between the nurse, it was serious. As they passed, Izumi briefly wondered if Van would have stepped out of the way or forced the hospital workers go around him.

It would probably vary depending on what mood he was in. And tonight, Van was certainly not in a good mood.

Izumi had just finished up with assigning guards at all the entrances and exits. They would hold their positions until the night was over, no matter the outcome. All of them were specifically chosen and they were men Izumi trusted. All that could be done now was wait to see if Ed would pull through.

She stopped suddenly as a nurse came by, pushing a incubator. There was no infant in the machine. As Izumi watched the machine being wheeled away, the thoughts that she had tried to keep at bay returned.

'Fuck.'

Her child hadn't lived long enough to be put in one of those incubators. He had never lived to breath air or see another human being. He had never lived.

Izumi hated this hospital. Not for being unable to save her son but for how it made her.

It made her feel weak.

Now it seemed as if she was on her way to potentially losing another child. This one wasn't her's but it might as well have been.

"Fuck you!"

Izumi sighed as she was broken out of her thoughts. she'd recognize that loud angry voice anywhere.

'Speaking of children.' She walked towards the location of the voice.

The angry shout had come from the lobby. A scream from a nurse suddenly sounded as she quickened her pace. This earned another annoyed sigh from Izumi, sometimes she wondered how he would have turned out if she hadn't beaten some kind of sense into him.

As she turned a corner and saw what he was doing, Izumi once again agreed with herself that she could have done better.

Envy was standing over a male nurse who was on the ground clutching his bloodied nose. His white uniform was ruined by the dripping crimson liquid. There was a female nurse standing off to the side, seemingly too scared of Envy to make a move.

"Edgar!" Izumi barked. Her shoulders squared and her face stern.

Upon hearing his aunt's voice, he turned with a wild and yet also grief-stricken look all over his face. Stepping away from his victim, Envy started storming towards her. As he grew closer, Izumi saw that the nurse wasn't the only thing Envy had been hitting. His knuckles were red and swollen with blood dripping from several small lacerations. Izumi held her ground and stared Envy down as he came to a stop.

"Where is he?!" Envy shouted, his voice a mixture of fury and choked despair.

"Upstairs, Envy." She said calmly, using his preferred name to hopefully get through to him. She was here to calm him, not rile him up even more. "Edward's in surgery right now, we don't know anything else."

"Is he-is he going to die?" Envy asked with uncaged vulnerability. Izumi's stern demeanor faded. She knew that she was the one person who he could behave like this with. Envy had far too much pride to show such emotions to either of his brothers He was just as prideful, and a little fearful, when it came to being emotional around Van. She had seen her nephew during vulnerable moments before back when he had been a teenager. What would be the point of him trying to act tough for her now.

"As I said, we don't know. It's too soon to tell." Izumi informed him. She spared a glance up and down the hallway and saw it was starting to empty. 'Good.' She thought before looking back at Envy.

The muscles around Envy's mouth and eyes twitched before he looked like he down at his feet. Behind him, Izumi saw the female nurse helping the male one to his feet. Lining the hallway were a couple fist shaped holes in the wall. Greed would certainly be getting a phone call from the director of the hospital by the end of the night. She looked back at her nephew who seemed to be now just noticing the injuries on his hands. Normally when Envy went out in public he wore fingerless gloves with leather padded knuckles. That way he could strike relentlessly without worrying about such injuries to his knuckles. He must have learned the news of the accident either at his apartment or the mansion.

"Come on Envy." She said. "Let's get those looked at." She figured it was best to get Envy away from other people at the moment. Hopefully it would also give him time to cool down. But Izumi knew that it would probably be some time for Envy to finish simmering. Edward's accident was hitting him hard, and her nephew didn't know what to do. So he reacted the only way he knew how, with rage and anger. Izumi remembered back to when she first trained him in hand to hand combat. There had always been a point of rage that once he reached, he'd need to be isolated from others like a rabid animal, lest he bite anyone.

"I'm fine." Envy muttered, but a glare from Izumi had him agreeing.

"Ok, whatever." He folded his arms.

Izumi nodded and turned to go find a doctor. As she did so, Izumi saw a tall man with dark hair exit the elevator down the hall. The man briefly glanced over at them before heading the other way. Izumi recognized him as Captain Roy Mustang of the Central's police force. Waiting for him at the end of the hall was Lyra who led the captain out of sight.

"What the hell is he doing here?" She heard Envy growl from behind her. Izumi gave a sigh. She knew that there had been some unfortunate experiences between Envy and the police Captain while Envy had been on the street.

"The officers in his precinct are the ones who will be investigating Edward's crash." Izumi said. "Your father's called him in, no doubt to talk."

"Hmph." Envy grunted with indignation, he started to pace back and forth like a caged animal.

Izumi glanced at her nephew for a moment before reaching out and grasping his shoulder. Then, in a move that some would find out of character for her, pulled him into a hug. Envy stiffened immediately, his body tensing as if he'd try to push her away. But he didn't. Instead she actually felt his body relax, even if it was only a little bit.

"It's going to be okay Edgar." Izumi whispered to him. "Edward is strong. He won't let something as trivial as a car crash keep him down."

Envy's arms hung by his side. He gave a quiet chuckle at his Aunt's words. "Yeah, he ain't no pussy." Envy muttered.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

Al rolled up the sleeves of his shirt and leaned back into the chair. All this waiting around was starting to drive him mad. With the exception of Ling, who had spent the last hour unmoving against the wall, he was now the lone watcher over the door. Izumi had left a little while back and his father had walked off after receiving a message from Scar. Roa and Dolcetto had moved further down the hallway to more strategic locations.

'When are they going to be done in there?' He thought glancing at doors leading into the O.R. room.

His coat was flung over one of the chairs against the wall. Al had seated himself in the chair next to it. Several more moments of silence passed before the sounds of approaching footsteps caught his attention. He turned to look and saw Izumi walking towards him along with Envy. He gave their aunt a nod, but his attention was quickly stolen by the bandages wrapped around Envy's knuckles. Izumi folded her arms and leaned against the wall that was opposite to Ling's. Envy made his way over to the chair that had Al's jacket in it. Envy silently picked up the coat, dropped it into Al's lap, and plopped down in the seat.

Al glanced over at his older brother who seemed to be glaring at the ground. As if he wanted it to burst into flames before him. Al watched his brother's angry expression for a few more seconds before stealing another glance at his hands.

"Your hands look a little hurt." Al commented dryly.

"Your suit's a bit disheveled." Envy responded quietly.

There was a few moments of silence after that. Both brothers just sitting there staring at the space in front of them.

"He's going to be alright." Envy said finally.

"Yeah, he'll be alright." Al agreed.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **The Board Room:**

"Do we understand each other Mustang?"

Mustang glared Hohenheim from his seat across the table from the crime lord.

"Yes we do." He gritted out.

"Good, now get out." Van hardly spared the police Captain a second glance before he exited the room, leaving Mustang behind. Van had mixed feelings about Mustang being the one to head this investigation. He'd caused problems for the family in the past, problems that sometimes ended in bloodshed. However, Roy Mustang was an excellent officer and had proven that he could cooperate. Van treated him with more respect than he did with others such as Mayor Grumman. He did this because Mustang had earned respect, despite it all. Though, if Mustang ever decided to go back to his more insolent days, Van had the right leverage over him.

Although they did their best to keep it hidden, Van knew about Mustang's affair with fellow officer and Mayor Grumman's granddaughter Riza Hawkeye. No doubt if word got out about that, both their careers would be in jeopardy.

Suddenly Van felt his pocket vibrate and quickly pulled out his phone. On it was a message from Izumi.

 _Update on Ed's condition. Downgraded from critical to serious._

Van stared at those words for a long time before he set off, on his way back up to where his son was. On his way he received another message, this time from Fu.

 _I have seen Edward's car. Need to speak with you._

Van looked down at it and responded.

 _Tomorrow._

Van wanted to hear from Marcoh before he did anything else. It wasn't much of a distance from the boardroom to the hallway outside of the surgery room. Though, he was still able to check in with Scar for any updates.

 _None so far._

Van regarded the response and pocketed his phone. He moved the rest of the journey slowly with his hands in the pocket of his brown jacket. The guards that he had stationed at the entrance to the hallway nodded to him and moved to the side wordlessly, letting him pass. Van looked over those who had joined Alphonse since he had left. Edgar was standing next to his younger brother. The two of them were calmly talking to one another. This left Van somewhat surprised. Usually his youngest and eldest could barely be in the same room as one another. Izumi was sitting in the seat that he had previously been occupying. She had her arms folded over her chest and one leg folded over the other. Standing with all of them was Doctor Tim Marcoh.

They had obviously been waiting for him to arrive and all looked up as he came close. Al and Envy stopped talking and Izumi glanced from him to Marcoh. Van walked straight on until he was standing in front of the Doctor.

"Tell me." Van said.

Marcoh, a middle aged man with a grim face and shoff black hair, cleared his throat. "Edward's condition has improved slightly. He's still in serious condition though."

"Will he live?" Van asked shortly.

"I have high hopes for him." Marcoh told him. "But there's something I need to tell you about."

Van could hear those around him shifting in anticipation, yet he didn't change his face or posture in the slightest.

"Edward's right arm and left leg were completely crushed in the crash. When the collision happened they ended up being pinned by the impact." Marcoh told them, his eyes carefully looking those who were listening to him. "Because of that, we had to…" He paused, cleared his throat nervously then finished. "We had to perform a traumatic amputation on his right arm."

Those words quickly became stale as they resonated with those who heard them. Envy cursed under his breath while Al buried his face in his hands. Izumi's arms tightened around her chest. Van maintained eye contact with Marcoh.

"And his leg?" Van asked.

"It looks like we'll have to do the same to the leg." Marcoh admitted.

Van nodded, digesting the information.

"Any other injuries?" He asked.

"A fractured rib cage, several contusions and lacerations on the face, torso, and limbs, as well as a thankfully moderate concussion." Marcoh told him. He paused after this. "There will need to be further surgeries in the coming days." A stunned silence followed as everyone reacted to the news.

"Y-you cut off his arm and leg?!" Envy asked in a gruff voice. A montage of emotions morphed his face.

Marcoh sighed and lowered his eyes. "I'm so sorry."

Van stayed where he stood, his eyes staring down at the ground. Behind him, Edgar let out a loud curse and slam his fists against the wall. Al was staring at the floor, his hands were clenched tightly.

"No…" Alphones muttered, shaking his head in disbelief. "No, I don't believe it!"

"Al." Izumi whispered reaching over to put a hand on his shoulder. Van could see her eyes were red from fighting back tears. He saw some freely falling down Alphonse's face. His son tried to cover it with his arm, but to no avail.

Van turned back to Marcoh.

"Thank you for helping my son." He said, shortly.

"That's it?"

Van turned to see Edgar glaring at him.

"That's all you have to say?" Envy asked, visibly angry.

"Calm down, Edgar." Izumi snapped, turning quickly towards them.

"That's all you have to say?!" Edgar asked his father again dangerously.

Van was quiet for a few moments. "Go home Edgar." He said calmly, though his eyes held a warning.

"Fuck this." Envy growled as he shoved his hands in his pockets, turning around and storming off. Alphonse lingered, watching Envy stomp off, before he practically fell into a chair. Izumi stood off to the side, her fists clenching tightly.

Van looked away from his family. He looked away from all of them. For the smallest amount of time, barely even a few seconds, his mask crumbled. The hard, steely face withered away, showing off wrinkles that were usually so easy to overlook. The stress and worry of the last few hours was now on full display.

Confident in the noise of the hospital to drown him out and that no one was looking; Van Hohenheim let an exhausted sigh escape his lips before leaning against the wall for support.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

"Was the car disposed of properly."

"Waiting for its next big scene stealer."

"Good." Zolf J Kimblee said as he leaned back in his chair, a bottle of wine in his hand. Across from him sat Atlas in his own chair, a bottle of bourbon in his own.

"I made sure to ram him several times, that way no one will mistake this for an accident." Atlas informed him. "The old fucker is going to tear this city apart trying to find the ones who did it."

"The Hohenheims will be on a warpath, we'll wait until things simmer down before making the next move. By then, I predict that Shou Tucker will be willing to join us." Kimblee pork the cork out of his wine bottle. "By the way, how is Edward doing?"

Atlas grinned. "It appears the lucky bastard is going to live. But I was told he'll be short an arm and a leg."

Kimblee's eyes flashed. "Really? My, this couldn't have gone any better."

"Still…" Atlas paused to take a drink. "I could have killed Elric right then and there, Solf. He was dead to rights. Yet you're happy as fuck that he's going to make it."

Kimblee merely chuckled. "It would have been unfortunate if Edward had indeed succumbed to his injuries. Yet we would have proceeded with the schedule nonetheless. As it now stands, I am glad that he pulled through. To die like that would have been too merciful for him. No, Edward Elric has a long road of suffering ahead of him. I intend to lead him and his entire family down that twisted path."

"And what about the Rockbell girl?"

"She will join them in the flames." Kimblee turned to look out the nearby window. His apartment offered a tremendous view of downtown Central.

"So this is it." Solf continued as he poured the expensive wine into a glass. "The first blood had been drawn, and the point of no return has been crossed."

"Fucking A." Atlas chuckled as took a swig of the bourbon. Kimblee waited until he was finished before speaking again.

"You know, Matthew. The odds of this ending with the two of us dead are quite high, so I'll only ask this once." The raven haired man turned back towards his friend. "Do you still wish to continue?"

Atlas' response was to raise his bottle. "You know I'm with you till the end."

Kimblee held his bottle up. "Then let the witch hunt begin."

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **One of the reasons why this took so long was I kept coming up with new scenes and it all had to be just right. This chapter stood out to me as a good way to humanize all the characters. And I decided to include the Van/Mustang scene next chapter which is going to focus on the rest of the city's and Winry's reaction. I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please Review!**


	14. Chapter 14

**ArcDragoon:** Thank you for your enthusiasm in for this story. Thanks for pointing out the grammar issue. I think I'm always going to make mistakes like that no matter how much I proofread. I hope I'm getting better though. As for the characters, I like to keep them close to their canon counterparts while adding my own spin to them. Thank you for supporting this story.

 **Mother of the Universe:** Interesting predictions. I won't say anything more than that though you will hear somethings about the Hughes family soon. I'm glad that the chapter and the emotions of the characters felt feel. This was an important moment for all of them.

 **Joker Oak:** Sorry for the wait. This one may have been a week less so maybe I'm getting better at managing my time. Thank you too for support and love for this story. Again, interesting predictions but no comment on their potential.

 **SleepinBeautyK:** If you hate Kimblee and Atlas already, I should warn you that they've only started. Yeah, its pretty much no secret that Winry will be the one doing Ed's automail.

 **Frankensnow:** I definitely toned down the Winry torture porn for this story. I don't know why I keep subjecting her to those situations, I don't enjoy it but it always works for the story. Don't worry, Winry's safe...for now.

 **LoveroftheWord:** Thank you. Sorry for the wait.

 **GothPanter:** It's the worst when good stories never get finished. I looked and saw that its almost been two months since the last update and I hate that. I understand how it sucks having to wait so long for story you really like. I honestly do my best to update as quickly as possible but life really does find wonderful ways to impede my efforts. I'm glad you enjoy Envy and Solaris, they've quickly become one of my favorite parts of this story.

 **Guest:** Thank you, and I will never stop saying this, but sorry for the wait. Just know that I will never abandon a story. Everything I start will eventually be completed. Thank you for your review. Its always good to hear that people are enjoying this. Figuring the characters out is probably the hardest part of writing this story. They have to be just right.

 **Vhosek:** I'll refer to the above comments about predictions. I put a lot of thought into how Winry should react to this news, considering how unique Ed and Winry's relationship is at the moment. I hope you enjoy it.

 **Lord Mistdarrow:** It's always nice to see a new face. I hope you enjoy the rest of this story.

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 **OoO**

The first sign had been the silence.

May Chang couldn't hear a thing. Even the ambient noise of the five star hotel room had seemingly gone away.

There was no use making any quick movements. Whether it was towards the handgun behind her head or the kunia knife behind the lamp on her bedside table. There was almost certainly at least one person in the room with her and they holding all of the cards. Rather then provoke her surprise guests she opened her eyes to see who had entered her room. She recognized him instantly.

Van Hohenheim.

He was seated in a chair alongside the left side of her bed. He was leaning back with one leg crossed over the other. His hands were folded in his lap as he looked upon her with a calm expression. Behind him stood several others. She recognized one of them as the large Ishvalan Scar. He was over Hohenheim's right shoulder. On the other side of the room stood another man. She did not recognize this one. He was not dressed to the usual attire of the Hohenheim underlings. He was wearing a tan trench coat with a white dress shirt and a dull green stripped tie. He had black sunglasses on and in his leather gloved hands were thin, yet long knives.

Hohenheim spoke.

"Hello Miss Chang." He spoke in a monotone voice.

"Mr Hohenheim." May responded, sitting up in the bed. She was currently dressed in a silk nightgown.

"If you're concerned for the wellbeing of your bodyguards stationed throughout this floor, you needn't be." Hohenheim continued. "They are in relatively good health. Not all are of sound body though."

"That's comforting." May responded dryly. "Why, may I ask, are you in my room?"

"I'm sure you're smart enough to guess." Hohenheim said.

May was silent for a moment as she once again looked at the mysterious man in the corner. Hohenheim saw her traveling gaze and gave a small chuckle.

"He grabs your attention doesn't he?" Hohenheim said. "That's one of his many useful talents. Introduce yourself Issac, don't be rude."

The man named Issac tipped one of his knives at her. "Issac MacDougel, local butcher. At your service."

"The Freezer." May said, turning back to Hohenheim. "An extreme pet to bring with you when all you're here for is to ask me if I had anything to do with your son's accident."

"He was here in the off chance that you were responsible." Hohenheim said. "Know that if you were, he'd flay the flesh off your bones while my men slaughtered every single one of yours."

"If I were?" May raised an eyebrow.

"You're clever, Miss Chang." Hohenheim said. "Very clever to have built your own empire at such a young age. To be truthful, I hardly knew a single thing about you when Gregory first brought your name to me. But while your reputation holds mystery, your face does not. The minute that we have spoken together was enough for me to determine that you are not responsible for the incident that befell my son."

"How did you..." May asked.

Hohenheim stood up. "Sorry for upsetting your morning, Miss Chang. We will see ourselves out."

May watched the three men exit the room. Her hand slid back to the gun behind the pillow, just incase one of them made a move. When she grabbed the gun however, it felt decidedly lighter.

"I almost forgot." She heard from the door. She looked up to see Issac standing at the door. He held the clip for her handgun up and gave it a little shake. He grinned cockily and tossed it to her.

"Have a fun day, girlie." He said in a low rough voice.

The door slammed behind him. Several moments passed before it was flung open by one of her body guards. There was blood pouring down from his nose and he still had the zip tie ends that had apparently been binding his wrists.

"Miss Chang, are you alright?"

May loaded the pistol and aimed it at him. She fired, purposely missing his head by about an inch. The guard yelped and scrambled out.

May glared at the door before letting out a small chuckle.

"It was a pleasure to meet you too, Van Hohenheim."

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Farragut Street:**

"Okay Pan, I'll see you a little bit. Bye."

Winry ended the call and tucked the phone into her back pocket. Glancing around she found her purse on the table.

'I don't think I'll ever get used to walking around with this.' Winry chuckled to herself as she put the strap over her shoulder. When Bald and his thugs had Farragut street under their thumb, Winry would never have gone out with her purse. All important belongings had to be hidden in pockets or jackets. Doing anything else would have invited the risk of them being stolen. But now Winry could freely walk around her street so the purse was back in action. It was a tiny detail, but she never realized how much she missed the little things until they were gone.

'Okay, everything's here.' Winry thought after conducting a quick inspection of the purses' contents. 'Time to head out.'

The Automail shop was closed for the day so rather than lounge around the house, Winry had decided to go meet Paninya. The two of them had planned to meet up and possibly go see a movie. It was just going to be the two of them as Sheska had to pick up a shift at the library. One of her more elderly coworkers had fallen down and hurt themselves. Paninya had voted for a horror movie.

'She better not spill the popcorn this time.' The automail mechanic grumbled, remembering the last time that she had seen a scary movie with her friend. As she exited her apartment, Winry turned around to lock the door. Just because Bald was gone didn't mean it was now a paradise on Farragut street. This was still Central City after all.

Winry turned the key in the lock. Once she heard the satisfying click, she pocketed it and made her way down the hallway towards the building's lobby. As Winry walked, she tried in vain to push a few strands of hair out of the way of her eyes. Stopping for a moment, she pushed the loose hairs behind her ear to keep her vision clear. After that, she buttoned up the top of her black wool jacket. Along with that, she was wearing a tan capris and a pair of flip flops.

'Maybe we could go to the gym after. I've been too lazy this last week.' Winry thought with a smile. It was still early in the day and the movie they were going to was a matinee. Paninya had been a little uncertain about going to the gym, but just in case, Winry had packed a gym outfit to change into.

The last few days had been peaceful and thankfully Hohenheim free. It wasn't as if any of her interactions with any of the Hohenheims had been unpleasant, but it was always more than a little bit stressful and unpredictable.

And also surprisingly constant.

Ever since she had first entered the Xerxes, her life now seemed to almost revolve around Edward Elric or one of his people. Everyday or so, she'd get a surprise encounter or a sudden phone call. To be fair, she had been the one to make the surprise phone call so that last one was mostly on her. But still, it just seemed like day after day. A girl could only take so much. It was nice to have some normal, completely mobster free, days.

Although she hadn't told anyone about her visit to the Xerxes to meet with Elric. Winry's neighbors had somehow discovered that she was the one who had gotten rid of Bald. The tear filled 'thank you's' kept pouring in. She had been receiving them about five times a day which was starting to become a bit overwhelming. The gift baskets and cakes that she'd found placed in front of her room were a little better though. At least she got delicious brownies out of those. Winry was glad that she had helped these people, but she didn't feel like any kind of hero. After all she had technically gone to a criminal and asked him to take 'care of' someone for her. On that night she hadn't known what Edward would do to Bald. For all Winry knew, she could have been signing the man's death warrant.

'But it's not like the bastard wouldn't have deserved it.' Winry thought. Bald had terrorized her and all of her neighbors, murdered a man, and had tried to rape her. Deciding that she didn't want to think about such things, Winry turned her attention back towards her plans for the day.

Her weather app had told her that there was a going to be a chilly breeze outside. Winry promptly stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jacket as she made her way down the stairs of her building.

'Maybe flip flops weren't the best idea.' She thought with a slight frown as she glanced down at her mostly exposed feet. After a moment Winry shrugged the thought off and took the final steps into the lobby. As she skipped off the last step, Winry heard voices. It sounded like some hushed conversations were taking place near the always half empty vending machines. She only heard fragments.

"-they're saying he lost both his arms and legs."

"-a car crash."

"Serves him right."

"I heard that his face is all burnt up."

"When he looks in a mirror now he'll know what karma looks like, the bastard."

"Well, I for one kinda feel bad for him-"

There was a small crowd of about five people that Winry recognized from her building. None of them lived on her floor, so she didn't know any of them particularly well. They, like most of the people living in this building, were middle aged and minimum wage workers. None of them were very well off financially. But who was Winry to judge considering her current situation? She gave them a polite wave of acknowledgment and continued on her way to the door when an all too familiar name caught her attention.

"-Elric-"

Winry stopped in her tracks, her head snapping towards the group. The little bits of conversation she'd overheard floated back through her head.

" _Lost both his arms and legs?"_

" _-a car crash?"_

" _-his face is all burnt up?"_

'Are they talking about-' She began to think before she heard another name.

"-Hohenheim-"

Winry's eyes widened. They were talking about one of the Hohemhiems.

'A car crash?' She thought.

Suddenly a car pulled up in front of the building. Winry recognized it as Paninya's. She quickly made her way outside as the car came to a stop. The passenger window was quickly rolled down and Paninya stuck her head out. The look on her face told Winry that nothing good was about to happen.

"Quick, you gotta hear this!" Pan said, an uncertain look on her face.

Sensing the urgency in her friend's voice Winry hurried down the steps leading to the sidewalk. Paninya pushed the door of the car open and moved out of the passenger seat to the driver's seat. Winry sat herself down and closed the door behind her. There was a news report happening on the radio. Paninya turned the volume up and Winry's eyes widened when she heard it.

" _-reporting that Edward 'Elric' Hohenheim was involved in a vehicular incident."_

"Holy shit." She whispered as an unexpected weight suddenly appeared in her stomach. Next to her Paninya was listening quietly. The voice on the radio continued.

" _As of now, we have conflicting reports as to Mr. Hohenheim's current state. An anonymous source has stated that he is in serious condition and has had to go through several surgeries, some have gone so far as to say those surgeries involved amputations."_

"Amputations!" Winry whispered in shock, her eyes widening. She'd seen the results of amputations more times than a person probably should. How bad was that car crash?

" _We have been unable to confirm the identity of the anonymous source, but we speculate that it is someone close to Mr. Hohenheim. Just to recap, Edward Hohenheim, son of businessman and entrepreneur, Van Hohenheim, was in a deadly car crash last night and has gone through several surgeries under the care of Central Hospital. We can not…"_

Winry leaned back in the car seat as she absorbed that information. The rest of the report droned on.

"Holy shit" She repeated quietly.

It almost didn't make sense to her. How could Edward Elric have gotten hurt like that? Every time they had met, he had practically oozed overconfidence and a sense of invincibility. Everything about him was strong and confident.

How could that have happened to him?

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Yoki Youswell's residence:**

 _Keep an eye on the news, Mr. Youswell._

Yoki had been staring at his tv for the last ten minutes, the look on his face could only be described as dumbstruck. He'd only gotten out of bed just 20 minutes earlier, made his way downstairs, and had been about to make himself breakfast when he decided to turn on the news. He hadn't moved since.

 _"As of right now, we don't know much about Mr. Hohenheim's condition. Reactions across the city have been-"_

Yoki turned the tv off before rushing over to a nearby closet. Clad only in a pair of underwear and a white shirt, he practically ripped the door open and dug his hand into a particular coat's pocket. After a few moments of fumbling, Yoki pulled out the black cellphone. The one that Kimblee and Atlas had given him.

'No, it couldn't have been...' He thought. 'But what if?'

With shaking hands, Yoki open the phone's recent contacts and pressed the only number there. The dial rang for a few moments before it was picked up.

"Ah, hello Mr. Youswell. I've been expecting your call."

It was definitely Kimblee on the other line. He sounded amused.

"I saw the news about Edward Elric." Yoki spoke. "Was that you?"

The other man's answer was blunt and immediate. "Yes, it was."

'Holy shit!' Yoki felt the breath get caught in his throat. 'He actually did it!'

After his first meeting with Kimblee, Yoki had wondered whether he was all talk but no action. Despite the the man in the white suit's confidence, Yoki still had his doubts about him.

But he'd actually done it! Kimblee had said that Hohenheim blood would be spilt, and it had. He had gotten a hit on Edward Elric, the family's golden boy and the prince of Central.

"Your stunned silence tells me that you're suitably impressed." Kimblee destroyed the silence. "Would it be correct to say that you are impressed?"

It took about five seconds for Yoki to remember how to speak coherently. "Y-yes."

"Good. I hope that this will dispel any doubts you had about the inevitable success of our alliance."

Yoki still wasn't entirely convinced. "Surely you don't think that you'll get away with that. The Hohenheims will-"

"-will never know of my involvement in Edward's accident, of that I am completely certain in." Kimblee cut in.

"How can you be sure of that?" Yoki demanded.

He could practically hear the grin on the other man's face. "Right now, Van Hohenheim is currently on his way back to Hohenheim manor. Alphonse Hohenheim has retreated to the Xerxes, no doubt to take his mind off the current situation with his brother. Izumi Curtis is at the hospital on the second floor outside of Edward's hospital room. And last and certainly most least, Envy has slithered off to a bar on 22 Millennium street."

Yoki's jaw was dropped all the way to his chest. "How do you know all of this?"

Kimblee ignored the question. "In the future I will be the one to contact you, not the other way around. Are we clear, Yoki?"

Usually Yoki didn't like to be talked down to, but he'd make an exception for this man. "Yes."

"Excellent. Now, you will not hear from me for about two weeks. Next time we talk, it will be on a different phone. When that happens, I want you to arrange a meeting between me and your friend Shou Tucker. Will that be a problem?"

Yoki was silent for a moment. "I don't think so." He said finally. "Shou has no love or loyalty for Hohenheim either."

Kimblee seemed pleased by this. "I know." He said matter of factly. "Do what I say, Mr. Youswell, and I can guarantee that you'll come out as one of the most powerful men in the city. Have a good day."

He hung up.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Central Police Precinct:**

Roy watched as the last detectives and officers piled into the meeting room with a growing sense of trepidation. By now everyone here knew why they'd been called in. 'Let's see how well this goes over.' He sighed inwardly.

He could see Havoc, Breda, Alex, Kain, Rebecca and Vato all seated near the front. Maria Ross and partner Brosh were standing near the back of of the squad room. Ross gave him a friendly nod of acknowledgement when they locked eyes. Roy nodded back in response before glancing back at the rest of his detectives.

God, he was tired.

Roy could feel the fatigue trying to weigh him down. Last night, he probably got less than two hours of sleep after leaving the hospital. Pushing it all aside, he cleared his throat and spoke to his subordinates.

"By now all of you know why you are here. Last night an attempt was made on Edward Hohenheim's life via a vehicle." Roy spoke in his usual authoritative voice. "It's been thirteen hours, what do we have so far?"

The question was met with silence from the room. Looks were exchanged by those he had directly spoken to. There was a frown on almost every face looking up at him.

"You heard me people." Mustang said louder. He looked down at the front of the people in the room at Breda.

"Breda, you were at the scene of the crash last night and this morning." He said. "What do you have so far?"

Roy didn't want to have to call his friend out, but he needed to get everyone here to follow him. Breda folded his arms and shifted in his seat.

"With all due respect sir, why should we even give a shit?"

There was a murmur of agreement from those in the room. Roy's gaze glanced over to Riza who was frowning. Though she gave him a supportive nod.

Roy sighed. He had been expecting this kind of reaction from the squad and it wasn't like he didn't understand their positions. His thoughts drifted back to his meeting with Hohenheim the previous night.

 **The Previous Night. Central Hospital:**

 _He was slightly nervous as he made his way up to the board of director's room. For the last few years he'd had the privilege of not having to interact with Van Hohenheim. The last time they had seen each other had involved a gun being pointed to the back of his head. While Roy didn't believe that this night would involve anything like that, he couldn't help but be slightly anxious._

 _Not for the first time, he wished that Riza was here with him._

 _He opened the door of the room to find Van Hohenheim sitting at the end across from him._

" _Sit." Hohenheim said. His hands were folded in front of him in a very businessman like pose. He certainly did not look like a father whose son was currently undergoing a life or death surgery._

 _Roy did as he was told and sat down across from the crime lord._

" _Hohenheim." He said dryly in greeting. "I got your message."_

" _Tell me Mustang." Hohenheim said. "What did you experience when you realized that my son was the victim at your detectives' scene?"_

 _Roy was silent for a moment, biting back what he really wanted to say. "I wasn't sure what to think. I guess that I experienced a mixture of surprise, shock, and dread. Surprise and shock that it was Edward who was injured, and dread at the possible fallout."_

 _Van's gaze didn't change. "Then you share my concerns."_

' _Concerns huh?' Mustang thought. 'His son could possibly die, and his biggest concern is how this'll affect his empire? Real father of the year material.'_

" _I've shared your concerns for the past eight years, Hohenheim." Mustang said robotically, yet also diplomatically. "You know that I do."_

 _That was a regrettably true statement. Mustang glared at Hohenheim. He remembered fondly of the time when he had tried to take this man down._

 _The time he and Maes had both tried to take him down._

" _Make sure that your detectives do as well." Hohenheim said. "Any that do not may find themselves wishing that they had been more open minded."_

 _Mustang felt a muscle twitch in his forehead, but he kept his anger down. He thought back to the sounds of Elysia's confused cries. The vacant and lifeless look in Gracia's eyes. Those thoughts had him clenching his fists. But as always, Roy kept his anger down._

 _"I can assure you that you'll have no problem from them." Mustang said. "My detectives will run this case like any other."_

" _No, Mustang." Hohenheim shook his head. "They will not run this case like that. They will run this case with the knowledge that it is the most important of their entire careers."_

 _Mustang didn't say anything to this. On Hohenheim's stoic face was the subtle ghost of a smirk._

" _To give you any further motivation what you might require, I can tell you that it will certainly be the most important case of Sergeant Hawkeye's career."_

"Listen." Mustang tapped his fingers against the podium before stepping away from it. The room quieted, Mustang knew the only reason they were even listening to him was out of respect. "I'm going to be unprofessional for the next few minutes so pay attention." He paused to sweep his eyes over the room. "I know what you're all thinking. I've been thinking it for the last twelve hours. Why should we give a fuck about what happens to Edward Hohenheim? What happened to him is nothing compared to the horrors that he and the rest of them have done to others. To many of us, this may seen like God given justice. Hell, I bet that half of you want the find the person responsible just so you can buy them a drink."

This got some chuckles from the room.

"But…" He trailed off. Remembering Hohenheim's words. "What do you think will happen if we don't do our jobs? If the police won't track down the ones responsible for what happened to Edward Elric? Van Hohenheim will do it himself." He paused to let that sink in. "Hohenheim will tear this city apart to find the people who did this. It'll be a witch hunt that I can guarantee will get out of control. But I guess we'll all just sit back and give him the freedom to do just that? If this was a gang hit by Archer or Tucker, then we'll have a potential city-wide gang war on our hands. If Hohenheim gets his hands on them first it will only get worst. But let's say that this wasn't a hit by any of the other players of this city. That we either have a case of random road rage or a vigilante looking to do some good. If Van gets his hands on that person, then there'll be nothing left for The Freezer to dispose of. We have to investigate this and find the culprit. Don't think we'll be doing this to help the Hohenhiems. We'll be doing it to help the culprit, whoever they may be because may God have mercy on their souls."

Roy paused to let his words sink in before continuing. "I'm not asking any of you to give a shit about this case. I'm asking you to do your jobs; to protect and serve. That's something we don't get to do a often in this city. So let's make the most of it." He looked over every officer and detective in the room again. "We're done here, everyone head out."

The sounds of chairs scraping against the floor and hushed conversations accompanied Mustang as he stepped off of the podium. He walked to the side of the room towards window. Roy heard the room finally clear out and closed his eyes with a relieved sigh.

"Good speech, sir. But it would be bad for your future if the higher ups heard it."

Roy opened his eyes and turned around to face Riza. She had her arms folded and eyebrow arched at him. He couldn't tell if the look on her face was approving or disapproving.

"Really? I thought that was a cluster fuck." Roy answered. "I barely got past 'What have we got so far?' part. So much for a morning briefing."

"I asked around about that." Riza told him. "Besides a description of the vehicle from a gas station attendant who saw it drive past, there's nothing. Breda still hasn't taken a look at the security footage from the surrounding stores."

"Hopefully my pep talk will inspire him and the others to step it up." Roy said. "Van made it clear that he won't appreciate anything but that."

"How did your meeting with him go?" Riza asked cocernedly.

"On a scale of one to cancer, it was probably in the middle." Roy said as he turned back to look at the window. Riza walked up so that she was standing next to him. The sky was appropriately gray, clouds blocking out any chance to see the blue sky.

"Where is this city going?"

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 **In one of seedier districts of Central:**

" _-and I'd like to take this time to give my condolences and my prayers to my good friend Van Hohenheim and his family, whose generous entrepreneurship has benefited this great city."_

" _Those were words spoken by Mayor Grumman at a press conference this afternoon-"_

Solaris stopped listening to the television that was blaring above the bar. Her attention now focused on the slightly slouched figure at the front bar. He was easily recognizable with his disheveled green hair and signature leather coat. Solaris gave a sigh as she took him in. He looked like a mess, dressed in his usual get up. She wasn't wearing anything too flashy this time. As simple black dress that covered her shoulders and ended around her calves. She wore her usual black gloves and heels though. A soft dark brown rain coat covered her body, though she was still received lingering looks from some of the male patrons. Solaris walked past without casting them a single glance. She was used to the lustful stares of men. Solaris had been getting them ever since she hit first puberty and her body had filled out spectacularly.

Envy was in the middle of finishing a glass as she sat down on the stool next to his.

"Hey." She said, quietly.

Envy was silent for a moment. "Hey." He eventually responded in grumble. "Why're you here?"

"You, idiot." She said, her normally husky voice was softer than usual. "Why else?"

"Toldcha you'd come crawling back." Envy's smirk barely reached halfway to his slightly glossy eyes. It crumbled as quickly as it had appeared. Envy then turned back towards the bar and slowly poured himself another drink.

Solaris placed her hands on the bar and folded them. "How many of those have you had?"

"Not enough."

"Clearly." She commented dryly.

"How did you even find me?" He asked.

"Your Father's girl toy Lyra told me." Solaris answered.

"Ah, so are you here to watch me get pisstained wasted?" Envy signed into his glass. The burning alcohol coursing through his body so far wasn't enough to distract him.

"That's certainly an option."

"What are the other options?" He asked before beginning to chug his newly filled glass.

"We talk to eachother." Solaris said firmly.

"Ha! Since when have you enjoyed pillow talk?" His laugh was meant to be mocking. Yet his usual mischievousness and lively tone was gone.

"How's Edward?" She said, ignoring his scoff. "The news has been rather unreliable about his condition."

"I'm not in the mood for pity sex if that's what you're here for." Envy muttered as he lifted his drink towards his lips again. A swift slap to the back of his head caused him to spill half of it all over the front of his jacket.

"What the fuck?" Envy hissed and turned to glare at Solaris, only to find her already glaring at him.

"I didn't have to come out here." She said with a growling huff. "I didn't have to come check on you. But I did." Solaris didn't give Envy a chance to reply before continuing. "Has it ever occurred to you that maybe, just maybe, you're more than just a good fuck? That maybe I was actually concerned about you?" Solaris moved as if to stand up, but was stopped by Envy grabbing her arm. Her head snapped around to look at him and saw Envy looking at her with a collage of emotions in his slightly reddened eyes.

"I'm sorry. Please don't go." His voice was a pathetic whisper. She'd never heard him like this before; like he was wounded. Solaris didn't like that one bit.

"I won't." She said. "But I think we should get _you_ out of this place. Mopey and depressed is not a good look for you, Edgar."

Envy cracked a crooked smile. "Sounds like a start."

"Hey hot stuff, why don't you get your sweet ass over here."

Both Solaris and Envy turned to look at the man who had spoken. At the other end of the room was a group of men. There was about five of them and they looked to be part of a typical biker gang. They all wore ripped leather clothing with bandannas and sunglasses. All of them were large with beefy tattooed arms.

"Are those guys for real?' Envy asked.

"Apparently so." Solaris responded.

The one who had spoken had his name on his jacket. It said Zed in gray, pointed letters.

Envy looked at the group for a few more moments before breaking out in a cackling laughter. Solaris smirked, looking back at Envy. This was going to be fun. She turned back to Zed and his crew. "Sorry, big boy." She purred sultrily while patting Envy's arm. "But this 'sweet ass' of mine belongs to the gentleman right here."

Zed looked from her to Envy.

"That fucking twig? He's your boyfriend?"

"In some cultures he might be considered that." She shrugged.

Zed glanced back at Envy and stared at him for a few moments before he eyes widened. "Hey, I recognize you. You're one of them Hohenheims."

Envy finished chuckling and flashed a toothy grin. "Correct. Now if you don't mind, me and my 'sweet ass' will be departing." He didn't need to look at Solaris to know she was rolling her eyes at his comment. Envy winked at her before glancing back at Zed. "Unless of course you'd like to show us a good time?"

Zed ground his teeth before an arrogant smirk came over his face. "Nah, it'd probably be smarter for you to leave. You don't want to end up like your brother now do you?"

The grin slowly left Envy's face, several muscles on his forehead twitched. "Mind repeating that?"

"Ok, freakshow." Zed leaned forward. "Get the fuck out before we make you like your crippled-ass brother."

Next to Envy, Solaris frowned. Either this Zed had one too many drinks or he was a complete moron. Either way this was about to become a violent shitshow. No sooner was Solaris done with these thoughts that Envy suddenly lept to his feet, grabbed his stool, and threw it at Zed.

"Gah!" The wooden seat slammed into the loudmouth biker's head, splitting his forehead open like a watermelon. He fell back, blood spewing from the large gash. The stool had shattered, wooden pieces scattering on the floor.

"What!"

"You fuck-"

Before Zed's buddies could even realize what had happened, Envy had crossed the room and pounced on the fallen biker with his switchblade in hand.

"Don't you fuckning insult my brother, you fuck!" Envy roared as he plunged the knife into Zed's upper chest, six inches away from the heart. He wrenched the blade free before stabbing him again, and again, and again. His movements practically a blur from the speed of his ferocity. Splashes of blood landed on both Envy's enraged face and the quickly paling Zed.

Back at the bar, Solaris lifted Envy's drink and calmly drank the last of it.

"Holy fuck! Get off of him!"

Hands grabbed Envy and pulled him off of Zed. Envy's blade was lodged between two of Zed's ribs so he was left without a weapon. There was three guys on Envy at the moment. Two of them had grabbed his arms while the other began to pummel him in the face. The fourth had gone to Zed's side. In this time, Envy looked around at his three opponents. The one holding his right arm had a tattoo of a skull on his neck. The one holding his left had a grill of all things. The one who had already punched him three times and was gearing up for a fourth had a red bandanna wrapped around his head.

'What a bunch of dipshits.' Envy thought as bandana man's fist came hurtling towards him. He ducked his head to avoid the punch and head butted Skull Tattoo. The biker's grip loosened, allowing Envy to tug his arm free and viciously elbow Skull man in the face. Now with one arm free Envy swung his fist into Grills, shattering his nose. He tossed Grills off of him and turned to Bandana as the man swung again. He ducked under the punch and threw out a jab to the other man's throat. Bandana gagged and clutched at his throat, stumbling back. Envy grasped Bandana by the face and quickly pushed him over to a table. Gripping him by the back of the head, Envy slammed him down onto the table. It loudly crumbled under the force of the large man hitting it.

Before Bandana even had a chance to settle on the floor, Envy had grabbed two of the legs from the broken stool and began to beat his face in. He struggled and writhed on the floor for the first few blows, but after hit number seven Bandana stopped moving. The wood made wet, meaty sounds as they cracked into the dazed man's skull. Out of the corner of his eye, Envy saw the fourth guy charging him. Had he been sober, Envy would have had a quicker reaction time. He wasn't, so the fourth man rammed into Envy's chest knocking the wind out of him completely. As Envy was knocked back he noticed that this biker didn't have any discernible features like his companions, so he decided to name this particular biker Clive.

Clive pushed Envy all the way to the front bar and slammed him into it. Envy's back groaned at the collision, but he just let out a growl. Clive was able to land a good hit into Envy's gut before Envy grasped the other man's head in his hands and pulled him towards his mouth. Once the man was within range, he struck. Clive let out a loud, agonized scream as Envy's teeth sank into his ear.

Next to all of this, Solaris was leaning back against the bar with an amused smile on her face.

Clive continued to thrash and try to escape as blood filled Envy's mouth. The copper tasting liquid made him gag so he decided to let the man go. Twisting his jaw, Envy's teeth tore through the cartilage and ripped half of Clive's ear off. The man quickly fell to his knees, hands gripping what remained of his right ear. Envy aimed a sharp kick to the back of Clive's neck which resulted in a loud cracking sound which sent him lifelessly tumbling into a couple of chairs. Using the sleeve of his jacket to wipe the blood of his face, Envy spat the top half of Clive's ear out before turning to face his remaining challengers.

Skull man was on his feet again and was coming at him with a knife of his own. Within seconds the enraged biker had reached him, slashing out with the knife and cutting Envy's jacket at the breast.

Envy hissed as the tip of the blade had nicked his skin. Staying light on his feet, Envy jumped back to avoid the next slash that would have cut his throat. Skull man growled and lunged forward like a bull trying to gore a matador. Envy grinned and sidestepped the charging man. Moving swiftly he grabbed the back of Skull man's jacket and shoved him. This, coupled with the initial momentum of the biker, sent him over the bar and slamming into the wall. Several bottles and whiskey on display fell off and shattered on top of him. Suddenly, Grills was behind Envy and slammed a stool into his back. Envy was knocked against the bar but pushed himself off. Suddenly bloody hands wrapped themselves around Envy's throat and pinned him to the bar's surface.

A few feet away, still leaning against the bar, Solaris casually reached behind it and grabbed an unbroken bottle. She swiftly smashed it against the edge of the bar so that it had a sharp end to it. Her actions caught Envy's attention. He had been planning to gauge Grills' eyes out, but he grinned as Solaris held the sharpened half of the bottle to him.

Snatching the bottle, Envy drove it into the side of Grills' neck. The sharpened glass cut through his flesh as the man's eyes bulged. Smirking darkly up at Grills, Envy shoved the bleeding man off him. Choked gasps and gurgles sounded as he stumbled back. His hands frantically trying to stop the bleeding. But it was useless as the jugular had been severed. Envy followed him and began to stab the man with wild abandon. A maniacal grin etched itself from ear to ear as he ripped the man under him to shreds.

He'd killed dozens of men. Rivals. Friends. Even a police detective once. Killing this biker trash was nothing.

Envy chuckled and pushed himself off the big slab of meat that was once a person. Solaris smirked as he ran a hand over his jaw and worked on the soreness of it. His breaths were deep and heavy, his eyes still held their crazed look. His fingers smeared the blood on his face and he pulled his hand back to examine them. The sick look in his eyes only grew as he took in the dark red liquid. Solaris' eyes gleamed as she took in the deranged look on his face.

Glass breaking behind her stole her attention. She leaned over the bar to see the bartender cowering on the floor. His fearful eyes met her's. She brought a gloved finger up to her mouth in warning.

"Shhh." Her eyes didn't leave his.

He seemed to get the message as he nodded nervously. She reached into the pocket of her jacket and pulled out a checkbook.

"So…" She opened the checkbook and took out a pen. "How much will these damages be?"

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 **30 minutes later.**

Isaac McDougal raised an eyebrow as he opened the door to his warehouse.

"You do know that I'm closed?" He asked in his gruff voice.

"Yeah, but I didn't plan on killing these guys so give a break, Mac." Envy responded. Behind him stood Solaris and a wheelbarrow full of Zed and his crew.

Isaac looked between Envy and Solaris.

"Date night?" He asked with an arched eyebrow.

"In some cultures, maybe." Envy responded.

Isaac let out a sigh and pushed the door open to allow Envy to drag the bodies in.

"The tubs, I assume."

"You know me well, Mac."

"I already turned them off, fuck you." Issac grabbed ahold of wheel barrow and turned around to go towards the tub room. "Make my night a whole lot of fucking work."

"Hey you're getting paid so why the fuck are you complaining?" Envy shot back. "Lazy-ass bastard."

"Well tonight's been fun." Solaris commented after Isaac left..

"I can think of only one way to end it." Envy said back with a lecherous grin.

They were outside the factory in less than a second. Solaris' teeth had clamped onto Envy's neck while her hands grabbed fistfulls of his long green hair. Envy quickly ripped any barrier that would prevent him from getting to her before undoing his belt. With a quick motion, he lifted her up and slammed her down on the hood of their car. Without any warning he was inside her which was welcomed by pleasured shrieks from Solaris and her nails digging into his back.

A horrified Gluttony watched from the driver's seat.

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 **Farragut Street, 9:38 pm:**

Winry slid the key back into the hole, locking the door with a click. She stepped back and let out a tired sigh. After listening to the radio, Paninya and her had gone to see the movie, though they didn't go to the gym after. Winry kicked her flip flops off and tossed her gym bag on a chair. The movie had been a comedy rather than horror, but she hadn't been able to get into it. Thoughts about Edward Elric had plagued her for the entire day, even when she had gone over to Pan and Sheska's house for dinner.

" _Edward Hohenheim was in a deadly car crash last night and has gone through several surgeries under the care of Central Hospital."_

" _-he is in serious condition and has had to go through several amputations."_

Throughout the day, she'd heard conflicting stories on his injuries. At one point there was someone claiming that he had died. But she was relieved to find out that he was still alive, though still unsure as to his exact condition.

'In a vegetable state, a quadriplegic, impotent. The list just keeps getting longer.' She thought with a tired sigh. Each conflicting report had just seemed to get worst and worst.

Winry entered her kitchen and pulled a can of beer out of the fridge. When she had gone to college she couldn't stand the taste of beers, but after becoming friends with Paninya, she'd quickly gotten used to it.

The can hissed as she opened the can. Winry waited another moment before chugging half the beer. She then regretted that decision as part of it ended up going down the wrong tube, sending Winry in a small fit of coughing. Placing the beer down on a nearby counter, Winry walked over to her nearby couch. Flopping down on it, Winry reached for the remote but paused. Did she really want to check the news?

No doubt the local news channels would still be reporting on Edward. This was the biggest news story in weeks. Would it just be more unconfirmed reports? What if she turned the tv on only to see a headline announcing that he was dead?

"Ah!" Winry groaned and tossed the remote to the other side of the couch. This day had started off so carefree and normal, but now once again her life was being disrupted by Edward Elric. Although this time unintentionally.

'Jesus, look at me!' Winry threw her head back and stared up at the ceiling. 'Edward could be dying while I'm blaming him for my crappy day and whining like a child.' She looked up at the patterns on the ceiling's plaster before sighing again. 'I really hope he's okay.'

Yeah thats right, despite who Edward Elric was, she was hoping that he'd be okay. A genuine concern for him had built up deep inside of her. He saved her life when he'd gotten rid of Bald. All he had asked in return was a cup of coffee which he ended up paying for. Sure they'd only met twice and had one phone call, yet she still….Edward had proven to her that there was more to him that what people thought.

'He said that we went on play dates when we were infants.' Winry thought. 'That coupled with everything else, I guess we could consider each other friends.'

A sudden knocking on her door shook Winry from her thoughts.

She frowned and sat up straight. 'I wonder who could that be-oh it's probably another gift basket or something.'

The knocking came again. Winry quickly got to her feet and started making her way towards the door. "I'm coming." She called so they wouldn't get impatient. Reaching the door Winry undid the lock before opening it. She expected to see the smiling face of a grateful neighbor.

Instead she saw Van Hohenheim standing outside her door.

"Hello, Winry...you look so much like your mother."

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 **Sorry about the wait. I'll try to have the next chapter up sooner. Please leave reviews.**


	15. Chapter 15

**Hey Everyone, here's the new chapter.**

 **Rhaella Tully:** Best FMA AU ever huh? Thanks for the compliment. Yeah I think it's quite obvious why Van is visiting Winry, I hope you enjoy their scene.

 **Joker Oak:** I will admit that it's fun to just end chapters on cliff hangers. Perhaps Mustang will find something, you'll have to wait and see. Hohenheim is obviously visiting Winry to ask about her making automail for Ed, but he might also have another reason for going to her apartment.

 **Mother Of The Universe:** It seems that no matter what Winry does, her life always ends up getting complicated. You are right about Mustang having more than just a grudge against Hohenheim. You'll start to learn more about that in the next few chapters. As for Envy, I felt like it was time for him to act like the psychopath that we all know and love. Writing that bar scene was a lot of fun.

 **Dance along the light of day:** It's alright to like the Envy and Solaris moments. Personally I've fallen in love with the crazy relationship that I have created for the two of them. Don't worry there will be more Ed and Winry scenes, that I can promise.

 **Hirude:** I'm glad to hear that you all are still greatly enjoying this story. Yeah, Solaris and Envy are the best. There's actually a scene of them in this chapter that I hope you all enjoy.

 **LoveroftheWorld:** Sorry about the wait. It's gotten a little harder to find time to work on this story recently, but I promise that I'll never abandon it.

 **SleepinBeautyK:** What a life she lives.

 **Vhosek:** Yeah, poor Gluttony at the end. Envy and Solaris don't care much for privacy. I'm glad that you enjoyed everyone's reactions to Edward's accident. It was an interesting chapter to write, especially Winry's reactions.

 **ZeeIRONY:** I know what's it like to wait all day to read an update, so I can relate to your struggle. Hopefully you won't have to spend all day anxious about this one.

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"Hello, Winry. You look so much like your mother."

Winry barely heard what he said to her. Her mind was too busy trying to reboot. "M-Mr. Hohenheim." She stuttered out, recognizing him instantly.

Indeed it was Van Hohenheim, looking as tall and powerful as the day he arrived at her parents funeral. Although there were more wrinkles on his face than there had been back then, not much had changed about him. He stood halfway between the door and the wall behind him, hands in the pockets of his brown coat. His face was a mask of calm and collected.

"May I please come in?"

His words quickly sobered Winry and brought her back to the confines of reality. Pulling her jaw off the floor, she stepped back and allowed him room to enter. Van Hohenheim gave her a polite nod of gratitude and stepped into her apartment. His shoes clicked against the floor. Winry closed the door behind him, took a breath, and turned towards the king of Central. He was facing away from her, apparently examining her apartment. After a few moments Van turned towards her. "You are aware that you can let go of the door?" He asked dryly.

Winry realized that her white-knuckled hand was still gripping the doorknob tightly. Color flooded her face as she quickly dropped her hand. "S-Sorry, Mr. Hohenheim." She muttered.

"No need to apologize, Winry." He waved her apology off in a nonchalant fashion. "If one of us should apologize, it should be me. I arrived here at a late hour and without any warning, so do not fret."

Winry's eyebrows raised, not expecting those words to come from him. 'That was actually kinda humble. Who knew?' Some of the tension left her body, but not all of it. Clasping her hands in front of her, Winry walked towards her kitchen. "Can I get you anything, Mr. Hohenheim? I could make coffee or tea?"

"No thank you." He answered before walking over to a chair by her kitchen table. "I do not wish to take up too much of your time, but there is an important matter that I would wish to discuss with you."

'What does that mean?' The tension in Winry's throat only got worse. Like a rope tightening into a coil.

Hohenheim glanced down the hallway towards her living room area. "Come, we'll talk in here." He spoke though it felt more like an order. Winry could only nod dumbly and follow.

Van went to stand by a chair near the window, leaving the couch open for Winry. She quickly moved to sit down as well, but turned to look at her guest and paused. Hohemhiem was still standing, in fact he seemed almost transfixed by something behind her. Confused Winry looked behind her and quickly understood why.

Hanging above her couch was her father Urey Rockbell's medical license. It was still in the same old frame that her father had put it in.

"I remember the day he got that. He was quite exuberant, as I recall." The faintest ghost of a smile flirted across Hohenheim's face.

Winry arched an eyebrow. 'They knew each other even back then?' She couldn't dwell on this new information for too long as Van began speaking.

Van sat down on the chair. "I believe that you've probably been listening to the current news of the day." It was quite obvious what he was referring to.

Edward.

Winry chewed her lip nervously, why did it feel like she was treading on thin ice? Would saying the wrong thing make him angry? "Yes, I have." She stuttered out, kicking herself mentally for her obvious nervousness.

Hohenheim watched her carefully, taking in Winry's rather tense body language. "Winry." His deep voice caught her attention. "Years ago I promised your father that you would never be harmed because of me. I intend to keep that promise. So please believe it when I say that you have nothing to fear from me." As Van spoke the monotone slowly crept out of his voice, and something that could almost be called tenderness entered his tone. It was odd but worked to lighten the atmosphere of the room.

"Mr. Hohenheim, I…" Winry started to speak but found herself trailing off. Once again the friendship between her father and Van Hohenheim was confirmed, this time by Hohenheim himself.

"It appears that I have drifted off the initial topic." Van spoke more to himself before locking his eyes on her again. "Please sit, Winry." He motioned towards one of the other chairs at the table. Winry crossed the room and pulled out another chair before sitting across from him.

"Mr. Hohenheim. I don't mean to be rude, but why are you here?" Winry asked.

Hohenheim gave a small yet humorless smile. "I'd like to discuss your work in automail."

"Automail?" She asked.

"Yes." He nodded. "How would you describe your skills as a mechanic?"

Winry raised an eyebrow. "Are you asking if I think I'm a good mechanic or not?" She asked.

"To answer bluntly, yes." Hohenheim said. "How would you describe your skills as an automail mechanic?"

Winry thought for a moment before carefully choosing her words. "Well, I'd say I'm pretty good. At least that's what my clients have told me." Winry shrugged. "I'm not even close to being the best in the city and I still have much to learn. That much I do know."

"Humble to the point of being self deprecating. Your father had the tendency to do that as well." Hohenheim mused. "Take pride in your work, Winry. Don't sell yourself short. What of the automail you make?"

Winry didn't pause to think this time. "The automail limbs I make for my clients are strong. I design them to withstand blunt force, harsh weather, and to be as convenient as possible for the client. The only way they'll break is through extreme negligence, but that doesn't happen very often."

"Is that because of your craftsmanship or that you have careful clients?" Van asked.

Winry chewed her lower lip for a second. "I'd say it's a combination of both. A reckless client can destroy anyone's automail, but a good mechanic should strive to make the best automail possible. Having automail is like a partnership between the engineer and that client. They both need to meet each other halfway in order to make it work. I do my best to tailor each limb to the individual client. No two of my creations have ever been identical. Everyone's life is their own, and the same goes for the automail that I make them."

Van Hohenheim gazed at her thoughtfully for several silent moments. He spoke soon after. "Have you deduced my reason for being here this late?"

"Your son was hurt in a deadly car crash yesterday." Winry said, looking him in the eyes which she noticed to identical to Edward's. "I'm guessing that his injuries are bad enough to require automail."

"Regretfully, they are indeed." Hohenheim nodded.

This line of questioning could only mean one thing. "You've come to me to ask me to make automail for him?" She said this unsurely.

Hohenheim nodded a second time in response. Confirming her question.

Winry blinked in both surprise and confusion and her mouth hung open. Why would the King of Central come to her of all people for automail? There were plenty of other mechanics.

Before she could question his choice, Hohenheim spoke first. "What have you heard in the news about my son?" He asked.

Winry blinked in surprise. She had to bite back the questions of her own that threatened to break through. How was Edward? Was he okay? "Umm, several things." She answered eventually.

Hohenheim nodded. "Then tell me some of those things." He requested.

"I don't know…" Winry began.

"Have no fear about offending me, Winry." Hohenheim said. "Whatever you have heard, I've more than likely heard it as well."

"Uhh…I heard that he may have…that he's injured." She said weakly.

"Surely you can do better than that?"

Winry swallowed. "Well, the most consistent report was that he lost several of his limbs. Although the reports vary on which ones and how many."

"Two." He clarified. "His right arm and his left leg."

"Oh god." Winry brought a hand up to her mouth. Her eyes widening in shock and horror. "I'm so sorry."

"Thank you." His answer seemed genuine. In that moment a sudden change seemed to overcome Van Hohenheim. It wasn't a physical change, no it was internal but it was still visible. In that moment Hohenheim changed from a dangerous crime lord to a tired middle aged man. His shoulders sagged slightly and he leaned back into the chair as a sigh escaped him. "As of right now Edward hasn't woken up yet. But the doctors tell me that it should be any day."

Winry nodded weakly, her mind was starting to overloaded with burning questions. Eventually she regained control of her vocal cords and asked the most prominent question.

"Why me, Mr Hohenheim?" She asked. "As I said, there are plenty of more skilled mechanics in this city that could provide a much better service for your son than I could."

"From what I've heard, _you're_ one of the most skilled mechanics in this city. I've spent the last few hours looking into your work, all of your clients have spoken very high praise of you. But that isn't the only reason I'm asking you." Van said before pausing. "I trust that you can understand the severity of the situation that Edward is in. How vulnerable he will be. His automail mechanic would have to be someone who can be trusted. It cannot be just anyone, least of all a stranger." He leaned slightly forward on the table. "I knew your parents and your grandmother very well. The limited knowledge of automail that I was able collect from your grandmother is that the mechanic is not just the one who builds the limb. They are also the one who helps the patient put their life back together."

"And y-you trust _me_ to be that mechanic?" Winry asked in a daze.

Van paused to clear his throat then resumed speaking. "When my son comes out of this ordeal, the man he's become will remain for the rest of his life. It is of critical importance to me that he has the best guide to lead him through this. If you are even half as dedicated to your work as your parents and grandmother, then there is no one whom I would rather see by Edward's side as he begins this journey."

Winry digested his words and their implications before giving her answer. "I…I can try to open up my schedule." She began. "Maybe I-"

"No need." Hohenheim said. "I've discussed the possibility of this with your employer, Dominic LeCoultre. We've worked out a possible arrangement should you choose to accept this proposal. Do not worry about your income either. For this job you would have compensation equal of ten others."

The words 'should you choose' stood out to Winry. 'So he's giving me a chance to decline despite being his number one pick?'

Hohenheim must have been able to read her thoughts. "Winry, another promise that I made to your father was that I wouldn't involve you in what I did. By becoming my son's mechanic you will become involved in my world, albeit in a limited fashion. That is why I am leaving the choice up to you. If you don't wish to involve yourself further with men like myself then I understand. But I also understand that my son helped you when you needed it the most. Now would be a chance to properly pay him back. After all, a coffee that he payed for is hardly a suitable favor."

"No, I...uh suppose it isn't." Winry said, bewilderment still obvious in her voice. "What is this arrangement that you made with Dominic?"

Van leaned forward in his chair. "We would give you a week to finish all current projects. After that you will work solely on Edward's automail. Whatever you need would be at your disposal, and the staff would help you in whatever way you needed." He paused when he saw the mixed emotions on Winry's face. "I know that this offer may seem overwhelming, but remember that this is still your choice. If you say no, Winry, then I shall leave you alone. There will be no hard feelings on my part."

Winry swallowed, her tongue briefly darting out to wet her dry lips. "It seems like you've given this a lot of thought, Mr. Hohenheim." She said quietly.

"I have indeed." He responded before rising from the chair. "No doubt you need time to think this over. If there's nothing else to discuss, I shall be going now."

"Wait." She said, perking up more in the chair. "Before you go, could I ask you something?"

"Ask and I can tell you." Hohenheim responded.

Hundreds of questions danced their way through Winry's mind, yet she finally chose one. "Edward told me that you and my father had a falling out. What was it about?" Winry asked.

Van's face remained a mask. "I wouldn't call it a falling out so to be speak. It was more of a mutual agreement that we made. He asked me to distance myself and I agreed to those terms."

"But why?" Winry followed up.

Hohenheim looked at her silently for a moment. "Because of you." He paused before asking a question of his own. "They never told you?"

"No." Winry answered honestly. "I remember seeing you on our couch and I put the rest together myself. But they wouldn't tell me how they knew you. My grandmother wouldn't tell me anything either."

"You have many questions." Hohenheim said. "But you may find that the money is not the only award that you acquire from this arrangement. Have a good night, Miss Rockbell."

And like that he was gone.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Several hours later, The Ouroboros:**

The distant noise from the club below is what woke Envy from his slumber. As he slowly blinked awake, he realized that the bed below wasn't his own. Suddenly alert, he quickly sat up to look around.

What the fuck?

Oh yeah. He quickly recognized whose bed it was.

Fuck yeah!

Muffled music sounded lightly in the background. Solaris' room was nearly sound proof as to keep the club's sounds from interrupting them. With a grin Envy fell back onto the bed, his hand reaching out and grabbing ahold of a naked breast. A few seconds later a manicured hand gave his offending one a pat. He grinned and rolled over to look down at the breathtaking woman underneath him.

"Morning, angel eyes." Envy chuckled as he said her pet name.

Solaris smirked up at him and pulled him down into the valley of her breasts. He breathed in her scent and got to work tasting the sensitive flesh laid out in front of him. Solaris hummed in enjoyment and shifted to give him better access. His combination of teeth and tongue were sending bursts of pleasure through her body. Envy let out a muffled hiss when he felt her hands grasping sharply at his hair. This momentary distraction caused him to pause, letting him hear the distant sounds from below. Wasn't it like 3:27 in the morning?

"Party's still going on downstairs." He mumbled against her soft flesh before resuming. The muffled music changed songs through the walls as he trailed a line up her chest with his tongue.

"We're doing a 24 hours open weekend." Solaris murmured, giving Envy's hair another tug to let him know she was enjoying what he was doing. "Business is booming."

"It certainly is." Envy raised his head to kiss Solaris' luscious lips. Their mouths met harshly in a biting clash of teeth and tongues. Both of them trying to outdo the other. That's how things always were between Envy and Solaris, their intimacy wasn't loving but aggressive. With a hiss, Envy grasped her shoulders and tried to flip Solaris onto her hands and knees. But he was stopped by her equally strong hands grabbing his arms.

"Wait." She said with a reluctant sigh.

"What?" He asked, a disappointed frown on his face.

Solaris pushed him away from her and he sat back into his heels.

"We never really talked." She said.

"Talk about what?" He asked with an annoyed sigh.

"Edward, you little shit." She said with an angry sigh. "Remember? Last night? I went to talk to you about him, but we got sidetracked."

"Oh yeah." Envy mumbled as it all came back to him. The alcohol, violent bar fights, and mind blowing sex had almost made him forget the pain from yesterday. Edward was still in a coma, and he had been hurt bad. The elder Elric brother's fists clenched as the doctor's slowly words came back to him.

" _We had to perform a traumatic amputation on his right arm."_

Envy turned so that his legs were off the bed. His green hair hung all around his face.

" _It looks like we'll have to do the same to the leg."_

Solaris watched him through strands of her untamed hair. After a few moments, she sighed and moved forward to sit next to him.

"Edgar?" Solaris placed a hand on his shoulder which he flinched away from. Solaris wasn't deterred and moved to sit next to him. "Tell me what's going on in that fucked up little head of yours."

"Do I have to?" He mumbled, earning a slap to the back of his head.

Envy sighed and lifted his head so she could see his eyes through his wild hair. "Did you know that you're one of the only two people in the world who calls me that?" He was referring to his real name.

Solaris scooted next to him, not even bothering with trying to cover her nakedness. "No, I did not."

"Ok...cool." He said.

"What?" She asked.

"What?" He asked back.

"You sounded like you were going somewhere with that question." She said, her hand coming up to rest her chin on as she struck a bored pose.

"Uhh...yeah." Envy told her. "Well the other person to hold that esteemed position is my father, because well…he doesn't get the whole Envy shtick. And who am I to tell him what to say. Ed and Al's mother, Tricia, would always call me Edgar too. I didn't mind it that much, my stupid pussy-ass name almost sounded cool when she said it. But she's not around anymore so she doesn't count." Envy paused for a moment. "She was always nice to me. Nicer than anyone else treated me. Well, except for Ed."

Solaris nodded. Heart to hearts weren't her thing so she decided against saying something. She removed her chin from her hand and sat up though. "You two have always been close." She said.

Envy gave a chuckle. "A lot of people think different things about me. Did you know I was that popular?" He flashed a weak smirk before it dropped off his face. "They all think I'm a psycho, and I'll be fair and admit that I own the fuck out of that image. People like Greed sneer at me like I'm street trash. Others like that assistant of yours are scared of me. The people like Alphonse don't really understand me. They think I'm unhinged or crazy. Izumi tries to help me by getting me to channel my anger into something useful, or some hippy yoga shit like that. She was always good to me, though. But Edward…"

Envy stopped to breath in deeply before exhaling. "Ever since we were kids Edward understood me exactly. I was still Edgar when I first starting living at Dad's castle. Though, not for long. When I started going by Envy and the word was getting out about the fucked up things that I did, Ed didn't mind. He didn't treat me different like Al did. If I do something screwed up or crazy in front of him, Edward will give me a little shit. But he won't hold it against me. He…I don't know, it's just always been easier with him."

"You love him." Solaris stated rather then asked. She had been racking her brain for something to say and this seemed like the right thing.

Envy didn't respond to her words, he didn't nod or speak. But from that Solaris knew the answer was yes.

"This is going to fuck him up." Envy muttered bitterly. "You don't lose two limbs and stay the same. That shit doesn't happen in real life. I…I fucking hate thinking about him just laying in that bed. I can't fucking stand it! Why did this happen to Edward! What did he do to deserve this! He's my fucking younger brother…and I couldn't keep him from getting hurt. Isn't that what big fucking brothers are supposed to do?"

Solaris could hear a collage of emotions in his voice; anger, sadness, guilt, confusion, etc. She knew that Edward was both his best friend and his brother. Obviously this was affecting him greatly. From looking at Edgar now, she could see that he was trying to hold it all in. Trying to keep himself from breaking down from all the emotions. She could see his hands clenching.

"Edgar…" Solaris whispered and slowly wrapped her arms around him. He wasn't going to hurt her, she knew that. His immobility also told her that he was holding back from destroying the items in her room. His go to ways of releasing his frustration were not an option at the moment. He needed a new one. "Just fucking let it go. You don't need to pretend around me."

"Ha." He said humorlessly. "I forgot to talk about you…"

He buried his face in the crook of her neck. His hand grasped harshly at her hair and side, but she didn't mind. In fact she welcomed his touch by wrapping her arms tighter around him. And for the first time in recent history, Edgar 'Envy' Hohenheim felt tears escaping his eyes.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **The next day. The Xerxes:**

"I can assure you, Mr. Ramsay, that the Xerxes will remain in operation and that you have nothing to worry about." Alphonse spoke into the phone. "We will be open tomorrow. If you stop by I can recommend some of our 'luckier' machines." Al paused as he listened to the man's response. "Alright, then have a good day sir." He hung up the phone before placing it on his desk.

No sooner had he placed the phone down did it suddenly start ringing again. With a sigh, Al picked it up and answered it.

"Yes?" He asked.

It was Russell. "The monkey is here."

"What on earth does that mean?"

"Edward ordered another neon monkey to coincide with the other one for the floor." Russell told him. "Edward was supposed to sign off for it, but he's not here so you'll have to. Noah's on her way up with the form."

"Why the hell do we need another giant monkey?" Al asked.

"How should I know." Russell answered, sounding rather tired himself.

Alphonse's phone suddenly beeped, telling him that he was receiving another call.

"Excuse me Russell." He said. "Got another call."

He disconnected with Russell and answered the other.

"Yes?"

"Alphonse Hohenheim." The voice said in an unfortunately thick southern accent. "This is Gus Chiggins, now your brother and I worked out a deal for new vending machines for your establishment. They are set to arrive in the morning. Are we still a go?"

'Why can does Ed always order all of the new things at the same time?' Al thought to himself before talking. "Yes Mr. Chiggins, we are a go."

"Now that sounds fine, son." Mr. Chiggins said. " Now if you just send the money to my account, we'll be alright. Pleasure doing business."

"Wait! What is-" Al was cut off by Chiggins hanging up. "-your account number and how much money you need?" He finished weakly before slamming his head onto the desk.

The exhausted Elric sat there in his chair for several moments of silence. Al quickly hit Russell's contact. "Russell…if you know anything about a guy named Gus Chiggins please let me know."

Before Russell could even respond, Al hung the phone up with a tired sigh.

As soon as Al did that, the door to the office opened and their secretary Noah came in.

"Mr. Hohenheim." She said with a sweet smile that Al could see straight through. "I have Edward's order right here for you to sign."

"Give it here." Al motioned for her to come over. Noah sauntered over and placed the paper on his desk. Al grabbed a pen and moved to sign it. However as he tried to write his signature, he found the pen to be dead.

"Ummm, Mr. Hohenheim. I think that pen is dead." Noah pointed out the obvious. She may not have been the brightest person, but she was nice and was able to put up with Edward's womanizing. Alphonse was 90% sure that the two of them have had sex on at least several occasions. Probably on the desk.

"Thank you, Noah." Al drawled. He pushed the pen to the side and opened a drawer to fish for a new one. Once he found one Alphonse quickly wrote his signature and handed the paper to Noah.

"Thank you sir." She said brightly before skipping out of the room. Al watched her leave before shaking his head. Noah may have been pretending everything was alright, but he could see that Ed's accident had shaken her.

"Fuck my life." He muttered bitterly.

Alphonse wasn't having a good day. Not at all. Ever since he'd stepped foot in the Xerxes several hours earlier, he'd been flooded with phone calls. Either they were employees concerned about their jobs, or curious sponsors such as Mr. Ramsay. At least these were distracting him from thinking too much about Edward.

He was alone in the office of the Xerxes. The one that he usually shared with Edward. Outside the large window on the side of the office he could see the staff preparing for the night's upcoming harvest. The casino was closed for the day

" _Regardless to the outcome of Edward's current situation, he will be unable to continue meeting with May Chang."_ His father had told him in the hospital _. "You will meet with her this week and continue doing so until you have finalized the entire arrangement._ "

'How does he expect me to do that when there's all these other responsibilities that I have?' Al thought. 'With Ed in the hospital, I have to run the Xerxes all by myself, and of course when all this stupid nonsense is happening.'

He looked down at the picture of the new monkey that Noah had left on the desk. He sighed and rubbed his temple with the tips of his fingers. He was going to have to call Chang to finalize the agreements of their arrangement. They still had to arrange the locations and warehouses where Chang's people would start production. There were shipping arrangements, security, and payments to be decided as well. All this had to be done at another meeting. Their father liked for transactions to be done face to face. Had Ed not been injured he would have already set it up.

Al leaned back in the chair, his normally calm mind working in overdrive.

This drug business with Chang was important. A member of the family had to be the one negotiating it, if for nothing then face value. Unfortunately that face was always Edward's. He usually handled these types of jobs. Al on the other hand had considered himself more of a behind the scenes guy. Dealing with someone like Chang required a combination of strength, charisma, and intimidation. Needless to say, intimidation wasn't Alphonse's strong suit. He was fine with being a partner on things, hence him and Ed sharing the same office. But now the big empty office was getting larger by the second.

'Jesus, I need to get out of this office before the walls start closing in.' Al sighed tiredly. He'd been sitting at that desk for three hours and his only major accomplishment so far was a mild headache. The youngest Hohenheim stood up from his chair and made his way across the office. Pushing the door open he saw Noah sitting at her near the entrance. Ever since Winry Rockbell had snuck into their office several weeks earlier, Noah rarely left her desk anymore. It wouldn't be very good if she allowed anyone else to trespass.

"Noah." Al caught her attention. "I'll be back in an hour. Please hold all of my calls."

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

Winry stared up at the giant words above the pearly white building's grand entrance. The loud honking of cars sounded from behind, and crowds of people weaved in around her. It was about 2 o'clock in the afternoon and already a chill was setting in. She wasn't dressed for the weather in her black skirt and beige jacket. Her body ached from the work of the day and lack of sleep from the previous night. Winry gave a sigh, her mind screaming at her to go home and lay down.

So why was she still here?

Winry was standing in front of the door leading to the main lobby of Central's General Hospital. The very hospital that Edward Elric was inside. She'd been there for about 5 indecisive minutes, determining whether or not to enter.

" _From what I've heard, you're one of the most skilled mechanics in this city."_

After Van Hohenheim left, Winry had spent hours thinking about what he said. She'd gone over his proposal again and again, weighing the pros and cons of such a decision. There were definitely some significant pros.

" _For this job you would have compensation equal of ten others."_

Winry didn't like to think that she was a greedy person, yet those words had really caught her attention. That kind of money for one single client would get her that much closer to reclaiming what she'd lost to Bald. Perhaps it would even be enough to buy a automail shop. The very thought of that caused her heart to beat faster with excitement. It was a tempting proposition to say the least. Finally having the dream that she and her grandmother had shared.

'I really do need the money.' Winry thought as she ran through the costs of owning her own shop once again. '$4,000 per year for the insurance cost. About $15,000 plus to buy the proper equipment and tools for making automail, plus $5,000 for the diagnostic machine. And then to top it off there's the rent.' Winry chewed her lower lip as numbers appeared before her. 'Depending on where I open it, the rent could be from $1,500 to $15,000 per month. Add an extra $5,000 for any renovations that might be necessary. At the most I'm looking at somewhere around at least $45,000 up front. Not to mention any added fees, government taxes, and moving expenses. I may have to double that whole number just to be safe. Uhhgghh!' Winry groaned as she felt a small headache starting to set in.

Shaking her head, Winry went back to thinking about what Hohenheim had said.

" _Winry, another promise that I made to your father was that I wouldn't involve you in what I did. By becoming my son's mechanic you will become involved in my world."_

'They wanted me to have a normal life.' She thought sadly about her parents. 'That's why they broke off their friendship with the Hohenhiems. They sacrificed it all for me.' Did she really want to go against their wishes?

It wasn't just her late parents wishes that caused Winry hesitate, but also her own nervousness. 'I went to Edward for help. I asked him to hurt people for me and he did. I'm already involved in their world, but I don't have to get any deeper.' Winry paused in her thoughts to glance behind her. 'Mr. Hohenheim said that it was my choice, so I could choose to walk away if I wanted. I could leave it all behind me and start anew.'

No doubt any normal person would choose that option. Who would want to get in bed with criminals? But her life had never been normal had it. Her childhood had been weighed down by secrecy and culminated with the murder of her parents. Her later years weren't much better either. So no, Winry wouldn't necessarily call herself a normal person. But that wasn't the only reason she was considering Hohenheim's offer. Whenever she thought about declining, a image of Edward would pop into her head.

Edward Elric. The arrogant, pig headed, yet irritatingly handsome gangster who had helped her when no one else would. The police and the law had failed her, yet he hadn't. Edward had delivered on his promise, effectively saving her life and everyone in the neighborhood. He hadn't done it for money, nor did he have anything to truly gain from helping her. Yet he did it all the same. When she asked him questions, he'd answer them. Sure Edward hadn't answered all of them, but he said it was for her own good. And Winry oddly enough believed him when he said that. Though he was a bit of a jackass at some moments, Edward had never threatened or hurt her in any way. None of their interactions had ever been hostile. Though some ended on a slightly scary note. Still he had been kind to her even though he didn't have to be. Edward Elric was one of the most feared men in the city, yet he still had a heart. At least to Winry he did.

And now she was being offered the chance to repay him, to help in return. Winry had to see him, she had to see what's become of the seemingly indestructible man she knew. Everytime she considered declining, Winry told herself that she had to see what state he was in before making a final decision. His father had been right when he said that Edward would need the right mechanic to help him through this. It couldn't just be anyone. There was a chance that Winry might be that mechanic. At the very least, she owed him an inspection.

Winry released the breath that she has been holding and stepped forward, off the sidewalk that she had been standing on and toward the hospital.

'This is eerily similar to the time I snuck into the Xerxes.' She thought in her head, the light coming from the windows of hospital reminding her a little of the neon lights of the oversized casino. Hopefully this time she wouldn't have to sneak in or past anyone to see Edward. As she got closer to the hospital, she could see several reporters and cameraman lounging about outside the doors. They were standing off to the side as to not get in the way of the doors. Winry gave them a quick glance before walking up to the doors. None of them paid her any mind, she was just a random person going into the hospital.

'If I accept this job, will there be reporters waiting outside of my apartment like this?' She thought to herself. Hopefully not. She was sure that Van Hohenheim wanted the press as far away from his son as possible so she hoped that he would do his best to keep them off of her as well.

'Poor Edward.' She thought as the front doors slid open. 'On top of finding out his limbs are gone, he's going to have to wake up to that.' She glanced over her shoulder before entering the building.

Winry stopped and observed the busy lobby. Most of it were random people or hospital staff in scrubs. So far no sign of the criminal army that people on the street claimed were occupying the building. However it was starting to look like that she was going to have to sneak her way to Elric again. There weren't any visible mobsters standing guard anywhere, but after the diner she knew that there had to be a few hiding around. If she asked the front desk to point her in the direction of Edward's room, they would probably all jump out of the woodwork.

'I can make it work from there.' She thought as she walked up to the front desk. There was a little bit of a line so she had to wait. As Winry waited she stuffed her hands into the pockets of her jacket and shifted her weight from one foot to another. After several minutes passed Winry decided to play a game with herself, try to see if she could spot any mobsters in disguise.

'The tall guy with the beer belly might be one.' Winry thought as she looked at a man standing by a potted plant, apparently on the phone. 'Or the guy with the baseball hat sitting in the chair.'

"Rockbell?"

She was snapped out of her personal minigame by an unfamiliar voice. Whirling around Winry found herself facing a Xingese man who looked to have just walked out of the lobby's bathroom. It took her a few moments but Winry's eyes widened when she recognized him. "You were the one at the coffee shop weren't you? You were watching me and Edward talk." She said.

The dark haired bodyguard nodded, he looked tired. "I was. My name's Ling Yao by the way." He then paused to look at Winry then at the line behind her. "Soooo you visiting someone?"

"Yeah." She said awkwardly. "I'm uh…here to see Edward actually. Could you tell me which floor he is on?"

Ling stared at her for several seconds before he suddenly grasped Winry by her left arm and turned toward the elevators. "Okay, let's go."

Winry blinked in surprise. "What?"

Ling turned his head back towards her, his previously tired eyes seemed rejuvenated. "The old man asked you to do his automail right? It's kind of obvious." With that he gave her a gentle tug. Winry followed without protest and allowed him to lead her across the lobby towards the elevators.

"Well technically I haven't agreed to anything." Winry started to speak as they reached the elevators with Ling pushing several people aside.

"But you're still here nonetheless so that means you are at least considering it." Ling pointed out as he pressed the up arrow button. A ding sound signaled that the elevator was on its way down. "Thank you." He said turning to face her, his eyes genuine. Winry felt her cheeks flush slightly, but not too much.

"Its no problem." She replied quietly as the doors before them opened. Ling motioned for Winry to enter which she did. Turning back around Winry frowned when she saw that he was still standing outside. "Aren't you coming."

Ling shook his head. "Sorry, someone needs to watch the lobby." He used one hand to keep the doors open and the other to press the fourth floor button. "But a woman with dark hair named Lyra will meet you. I'll text her that you're on you're on way up. She's actually been expecting you."

"What do you mean by-" Winry started to ask but gave up with a exasperated sigh. Why should she start questioning any of this now? Winry glanced back up to look Ling in the eyes. "Just tell me this, is he alright?"

Ling was silent for a moment before speaking. "He's better now that you're here." Winry found herself blushing at these words. With that, Ling stepped back and allowed the doors to close.

'Why did he have to say it like that?' She thought embarrassedly as the elevator started to move up.

It was by far the slowest elevator ride of Winry's life which allowed her to go over all of the choices that led her to this moment. 'Well no going back now, Winry.' She sighed in defeat. 'Why do I always do the dumbest things possible?'

The elevator door opened to the hallway and she stepped out. It was surprisingly empty except for a lone woman sitting in a chair to Winry's right. Upon seeing Winry, she stood and walked towards her.

'This must be Lyra.' Winry thought.

"Miss Rockbell." The young woman said as she neared Winry. "Thank you for stopping by."

"Hi." Winry said. "The guy downstairs, Ling, told me to come here."

"I got his message." The woman nodded. "My name is Lyra Rial, personal assistant to Mr Hohenheim." She then held a hand out for Winry to shake.

"Senior or Junior?" Winry asked as she politely shook her hand.

"Senior." Lyra said. Her voice was rather direct and professional, like one you'd hear from a cop or a businesswoman. The suit she wore didn't help with that impression.

Winry looked Lyra up and down. The other woman was about Winry's height, maybe an inch or two taller. She had short black hair that hung straight down her face, stopping at her chin. Her eyes were a bluish color, possibly purple. Despite her very businesslike appearance, she was quite an attractive woman.

"So is uh...is Edward on this floor?" Winry asked with a slight dose of awkwardness.

"Right here." Lyra held her arm up, gesturing to a door that was right next to them. Winry looked from the door, to Lyra, and then back at the door. It was slightly ajar.

"Thanks."

Winry moved to the room and started to push the door open.

"I'll be at the door," She heard Lyra say behind her. "In case you need anything."

Winry turned to see Lyra looking right at her. She wondered if Lyra had a concealed gun on her.

'Knowing these people.' Winry thought. 'Definitely.'

She pushed herself all the way into the room. Usually hospital rooms held two beds to accommodate two patients. In this room however, there was only one. It was the one by the window farthest away from the door. The shades of the window were drawn, as was the curtain that would have separated the two beds. The most she could see of Edward's bed was the very end of it sticking just out of the curtain. She couldn't see any of Edward.

Winry moved forward quietly. She knew that she could be as loud as she wanted to and it wouldn't wake Edward up. Still, she always had a respect for those who were injured.

Finally, she came to the curtain and looked around it.

His limbs weren't the first thing to attract her attention. They came soon after though. For the first few moments, all she could look at was his face. Fortunately it looked as if the crash hadn't damaged Edward's face too much. There was a bandage wrapped around his forehead and a few butterfly bandages on his cheeks. Also scattered on his face were minor injuries such as small cuts and bruises, as well as a black eye. Despite all that, he still looked peaceful and as handsome as ever. Almost like he was sleeping and not in coma. For some odd reason this caused a warm feeling in her lower stomach. A strange protectiveness for him also built up inside of her. Winry tried to ignore these and went back to examining Edward. After looking over the resting features of his face, Winry's gaze moved down the rest of Elric's body. She gasped quietly at what she saw.

Mr. Hohenheim had been telling the truth when he'd told her about Edward's limbs. His right arm was completely amputated at the shoulder. His left leg looked to be amputated just above his knee cap, leaving him with about half of his thigh remaining. He had a blanket covering his body but the empty spaces where the limbs should have been left nothing to the imagination. It was true. Edward Elric, the prince of Central, had been crippled.

Winry's hands clenched themselves into fists and she felt a stinging sensation in her eyes. She had been told about his injuries, but only now did they seem real to her. She'd seen amputations like this before, yet somehow this time felt different. Human beings were fragile things. They could only heal from so much. It was the easiest thing to destroy a person. But Edward Elric had been different. He had an aura of self confidence about him that made him seem invincible. His brother Alphonse didn't have this aura. Not even his father, at least not to the extent of Edward. It seemed cruel. To do something like this to someone like him.

That is why Winry started to cry.

When she was young, Winry would often have this habit of crying for people when they wouldn't do it themselves. Be it a neighbor whose pet had died and they didn't want to accept it, or one if her parents after losing a patient and they were too tired to express it. Her childhood friends would often make fun of Winry for this; calling her a crybaby. Thus her habit of crying on other people's behalf had started to die out as she grew older.

It had been a long time since she had last shed tears for another person. Since her grandmother's funeral, life had just delivered one hit after another. She couldn't get too wrapped up in other people's problems. But now Winry was crying for Edward Hohenheim. She cried for the injuries that he had received, for the part of him that would be lost forever, and for the long painful road ahead of him.

She looked back at his face. It was completely devoid of all the energy and confidence that would radiate from Edward. The same energy that mysteriously drew her to him whenever they met.

 _The mechanic is not just the one who builds the limb. They are also the one who helps the patient put their life back together._

Winry took a long breath and turned to face the door. Lyra was standing at it with her back facing Winry. However, Lyra was looking over her shoulder into the room.

"I'll do it." Winry said.

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 **The Devil's Nest Restaurant, 15 minutes later:**

The chatter around him created a pleasant white noise as he ate. He preferred it that way, complete silence was rather unsettling. With careful precision, he held the rich steak in place with the silver fork as he slowly sliced into it with the sharp knife. His movements were methodical and his blue eyes gazed down at the soon to be devoured food. The meat easily gave way to his actions, too weak to put up any form of a resistance. Just as he was about to cut the last tendon of red meat, his phone dinged. His phone had been placed next to his plate. He'd been expecting this message for the last several hours. His sharp eyes quickly moved over to it.

It was from Atlas.

 _I just met with You-Know-Who, Rockbell's agreed to be Elric's mechanic. Guess you were right after all._

Zolf J. Kimblee smiled as he read this. Focusing back on his plate, he cut through the last amount of resistance and moved the freshly cut piece of bloody meat to his mouth.

Everything was coming along even better than he could have predicted. Excellent.

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 **I hope you enjoyed the chapter. Like I said above its become harder for me to write these chapters but I will never abandon this story. Please Read and Review.**


	16. Chapter 16

**I'm back!**

 **Rhaella Tully** : I was really looking forward to writing the first scene between Winry and Van. I felt that Hohenheim could lower his walls and be genuine considering who Winry was to him. She isn't a rival who he needs to intimidate or a family member who he has to act tough around, she's just a normal person. I've also really grown to love Envy's character in this story. In most stories he is usually a villain so I decided to make him a more sympathetic and likable character. As for Kimblee, some shit is going to get fucked up by him.

 **BuggyNess** : Sinfully wonderful is great way to describe something. The Winry/Ed interaction is definitely going to be interesting with how they each handle the upcoming challenges.

 **Mother Of The Universe** : I'm so sorry that I had to make you all wait so long! I needed to reconsider how I wanted this story to continue. I ended up completely changing the ending, and I hope you will all like it. I'm really curious to know why you're getting bad vibes from Lyra?

 **Frankensnow** : It's always great to hear that a story is still going strong. I don't think I'm giving anything away when I say that Ed's reaction isn't going to be positive.

 **Aggie12** : I understand what you mean by the safety bubble. But things are only going to get worse before they get better.

 **Shadowwolf1997** : I always love a new reader. Sorry that you had to wait so long for this update.

 **SleepinBeautyK** : Sorry, but that's probably not going to happen any time soon.

 **Vhosek** : Thanks for the trust. I truly do appreciate it.

 **cutepanda12323P** : Thank you. I hope you enjoy the rest of it. Congratulations for being the 100th reviewer for this story!

 **VKLOREO23** : Damn, where did all of this hate for Lyra come from? Maybe your opinion of her will change after this chapter.

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"Have you gotten started on that paperwork yet, sir?"

Roy Mustang glanced up from his desk to look at a frowning Riza Hawkeye. She was standing at the door of his office with her arms folded. As usual she was dressed in a smart looking black work suit. Roy secretly wished that she'd wear a skirt every once in a while, but that was just him being greedy. He smiled up at her from his chair.

"Funny that you mention it Lieutenant." He smoothly. "I was just about to take a look at it. While I'm doing that, could you check in on Jean and Breda? See if they've made an progress on that license plate."

Riza gave him an unimpressed look as she turned and walked out, closing the door to his office behind her. None of his lies could ever get past her and he knew it. But it was fun to see her get riled up all the same. Now that he was free from her judgmental glare, Roy leaned back in his chair and for the first time since he'd sat down, took a look at his own desk. His usual stack of ready to sign paperwork was placed neatly on its surface. Roy also noticed that any possible objects of distraction had been removed as well.

'No doubt Riza's doing.' He chuckled before glancing up at the Lieutenant who held his heart. The shades to his office were down but he could still make out her profile through the lines. She had gone back to her work, her front facing away from him. But that didn't mean that there wasn't anything left to distract him. He admired the way she kept her long blonde hair up. The intricate array of curls and folds that it took. Riza had done a good job of eliminating distractions from within his office, but she had failed to factor in distractions from outside. The biggest being herself. And as Roy admired the delicate features on the right side of Riza Hawkeye's face he felt slightly victorious.

Suddenly the phone on his desk rang. Roy glanced down at the device for a moment before picking it up out of the receiver.

"Captain Roy Mustang." He spoke seriously into the phone.

"Roy, my boy, how have you been doing?"

The surprise on Mustang's face would have been obvious to anyone watching. He usually didn't get calls from _this man_ while at work.

"Mr. Mayor. Forgive me, I wasn't expecting-"

"Oh no need for such formalities." Grumman chuckled through the phone. "I thought we were friends."

Mustang allowed his body to relax. A part of him found it rather funny that Grumman had called him while he was busy eyeing up the old man's granddaughter. Another part of him found it to be kinda weird. Based on the way that Grumman spoke, this seemed like a social call. But Mayor Grumman wasn't the kind of man to make social calls during work hours.

"Sorry William, I've just been wound rather tightly these last few days." Roy responded.

"Hmm. I can imagine." The older man responded. "Things haven't been much easier on my end with this whole Edward Hohenheim mess."

"Is that what you called me to talk about?" Mustang said, getting to be point quickly. He leaned back into the chair again and twiddled a pen in his hand.

"Partly." Grumman confessed. "I also wanted to check in on you, Roy. See how you're holding up and if I can help in any way."

Mustang let out a sigh and put the pen back on the desk. "I'm still holding in there, but this is one hell of a clusterfuck. Haven't gotten much sleep in the last few days."

"Care to share?"

"You know that I can't share sensitive information about an ongoing case with parties outside the investigation." Roy responded curtly.

"Come on, not even for me?" The old man laughed. "You still owe me for those football tickets I got you last year."

Mustang shook his head but couldn't help the grin that broke out on his face. "Alright. I'll tell anything within reason. So what do you want to know, sir?"

"You can start by telling me how far you're along?"

If anyone else had asked him that, Mustang would have had reservations. But he had known William Grumman since he was a teenager. Grumman's son-in-law and Riza's father, Berthold Hawkeye, had been a close friend to Roy's parents. A cop himself, Berthold had been in Roy's life since the latter was a child. The elder Hawkeye would later become his mentor of sorts once Roy joined the academy. On many occasions Mustang had bumped into Grumman while visiting Berhold and the two of them quickly got along. Both he and William shared a rather dry sense of humor and weren't afraid to speak their minds. A lot of things had changed since then. Berthold had tragically died of a terminal illness several years earlier. Roy had moved from street officer to detective to Police captain and Grumman was the mayor of Central. But despite the loss of Berthold and their ever evolving careers, the two of them had maintained their friendship. In fact, Grumman was probably one of the only few city officials that Mustang trusted.

"Please Sir." Roy said, his thoughts turning away from history and back towards the conversation. "I already have to deal with Commissioner Raven asking me that very question about once every hour."

"Raven?" Grumman questioned.

"Yes sir." Mustang nodded. "He's repeatedly stressed to me the importance of this case and wants me to keep him informed every step of the way."

"Always knew he was one of them." Grumman mumbled. "Spineless, traitorous shit."

"Ever thought about replacing him sir?" Mustang asked. The high seat of commissioner had always looked good to him.

"On a daily basis, believe me." Grumman said. "Only problem is, like I said, he's one of them. Hohenheim would probably kill all of my replacements until he got to one who was even more chicken shit than Raven."

'He would.' Roy thought in his head. "So, while we're on the subject of the Hohenheims I might as well mention how far we're getting on the case."

"Go ahead." Grumman said.

Mustang took a moment to collect his thoughts. "Through security footage of the incident we've identified the suspect's vehicle as a black SUV. Possibly a Cadillac Escalade model, made sometime in the last decade. Samples from the tires' skid marks have been taken. So far we don't have a license plate number. Whoever the driver was; either he was very careful or just damn lucky at hiding his plates. The plate may have been removed before the incident, we don't know for sure."

"His?" Grumman asked.

"Or her's." Mustang rolled his eyes. "No matter which angle we look at it we can't get a good look into the driver's seat. The vehicle had its high beams on. I hope you won't share any of this information with anyone, sir." He spoke the last sentence jokingly.

"I'll try my best." The elderly mayor chuckled. "You know to be honest, I think this incident might have a good long term effect on this city."

Roy frowned at Grumman's use of 'good'. That was not the word he would use to describe this situation. But instead of voicing that thought, Mustang simply replied with. "How so?"

"Before all of this, Edward Hohenheim was the face of his accursed family. People were starting to become more scared of him than his father. Van's old and hides behind his desk while Edward's been the real one on the streets putting the fear in people." The excitement in the other man's voice told Mustang that Grumman had probably been wanting to say this for a while. "Now he's a cripple. Ha! Serves that bastard right. No one is going to be scared of him now that he can't even fucking walk!"

Roy, on the other hand, was a little more cautious about this particular subject. One of the fallouts from this attempt on Edward Hohenheim's life would be how people viewed the family. Not only had Edward been injured in the attack, but he'd lost two limbs as well. This incident had showed that not only could the Hohenheims bleed, they could be potentially killed as well. Grumman was right when he said that the people in this city had feared Edward. Fear was what kept the other crime bosses in line and most of police force from trying anything. But that fear may have diminished in light of the hit and run. The consequences of which could be positive or devastating. Some of the other criminals in the city could start getting crazy ideas. Roy was always cautious about crazy ideas.

'He is taking way too much enjoyment out of this.' Roy thought with a sigh that went unnoticed by the jovial mayor. "You might want to tone your rhetoric down a little, William. You never know who might be listening."

"Hey, no one's listening right now. Especially not the high and mighty Van Hohenheim. So fuck him. And fuck the rest of his scumbag family. After what they did to Maes I'd thought you'd be saying the same." Grumman sounded like he was experiencing his second childhood.

Roy's hand gripped the phone tighter at the mention of Maes, his former partner. They had never proven that his death had been a Hohenheim hit, but there was no one else who could have done it. Again Mustang pushed away his thoughts. Grumman's hatred of the Hohenheim family must have been extreme if he was being so blatant.

"Careful old timer. Don't get too excited or you'll give yourself another heart attack." Roy replied, deciding to keep the mood of the conversation light.

"Bah, I'm not that old yet. And that first time wasn't my fault." Grumman muttered though Roy knew he wasn't offended. "Anyway, back to the case. What else have you got for me?"

"Apart from what I've already mentioned, nothing else." Roy admitted with a sigh. "My detectives have been looking at all camera footage from the surrounding area, trying to create a timeline of where the suspect's vehicle came from and where it went after. They've also been questioning all potential witnesses for statements. Since our description of the vehicle is a rather broad one, trying to track it down will take time. And of course our star witness and victim, Edward Elric, has been in a coma so there's nothing to get from him."

"Just look for the SUV with the giant dent in the front." Grumman suggested dryly. "Can't be too hard to miss."

"Wow, I haven't thought of that. My god, you've just cracked this whole case wide open."

"Ah, enough with your sassing, boy." Grumman grumbled. "But in all seriousness, I do have some doubts that you'll even find this would-be-assassin."

Roy frowned and was about to defend himself when the old man spoke quickly. "Not that I'm questioning your police skills or your department, Roy. But you have to admit, how many people in this city would want Edward Hohenheim dead?"

The slight anger that had built from the mayor's words faded as Roy sat back in his chair. "If I had to guess, maybe somewhere between 40% and 80% of Central's population. It could be jealous criminals, citizens taking the law into their own hands, a whore who got ripped off, hell it could have been a member of his own family."

"I don't envy your plight, my friend." Grumman offered sympathetically at the police captain's dilemma. "Well I've probably taken up enough of your time, I'm sure you have work to do just as I do."

Roy glanced at the stack of paper on his desk. "Actually Riza has been trying to get me to do some paperwork."

"Ha, that sounds like her. Good girl." The old man chuckled. "Tell her I said hello will you. With all that's been happening in the last few days I haven't had a chance to talk to her lately."

Roy glanced back in Riza's direction, seeing her familiar form through the blinds. So far the two of them had been rather successful to keep their love affair a secret. Hopefully it would stay that way, especially from her very powerful and slightly overprotective grandfather. Roy wasn't sure if he'd still have his job if the mayor found that he was fooling around with his granddaughter. "I'll be sure to pass along the message to her if I see her."

"Thanks Roy. Have a good day, Captain Mustang." With that, the mayor hung up on his end. Roy placed his phone back in the receiver. 'It's been awhile since William last called me.' He thought. After of moment of analysing any possible motives, he shrugged that thought off. Riza's grandfather had always done things out of the blue. Roy then thought back to Grumman's mentioning of how hard this investigation would be.

'It's actually not as hard as you think William.' Mustang thought to himself. Although it wasn't the smartest thing to make assumptions on a case like this, there were already key clues that Roy had picked up on. One of which was the way Elric had been attacked. The assailant had repeatedly rammed his vehicle into Hohenheim's thus causing damage on his own car. It was a sloppy and unprofessional way to kill someone, especially a person like Edward Hohenheim. Surely there were easier and more discreet ways to kill someone. Residents near the scene had reported hearing the crash from blocks away so it had been loud as well. Also if the attacker had really wanted to kill Hohenheim, he/she would probably have stopped to check if the deed was done. One bullet to the head would have finished him in his injured state. But instead they sped off in a mad dash leaving behind tire marks and smashed up bits that had fallen of the front hood.

'This doesn't seem like the work of a professional hitman.' Roy mused to himself. Throughout the years he had come across many various methods of assassination. 'If it was one of the other bosses in the city like Shou Tucker or Yoki Youswell they would have done it more discreetly and perhaps tried to make it look like an accident. This seemed…rather civilian.' He then shook his head with a sigh. 'How does that saying go? When you assume you make an ass out of you and me.' Berthold had told him that many times.

Mustang then, regretfully, turned back to the untouched paperwork that needed to be filled out. The raven haired police captain gave a sigh of defeat. Well, it appeared there were no more distractions. Time to face the music.

Just as Roy reached for the file at the top of the stack, the door to his office swung opened and Riza stuck her head in. "Excuse me sir, but I just heard from Havoc. We got a licence plate number for the suspect's car."

'I guess the paperwork is going to have to wait.' He thought.

 **OoO**

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 **Gregory 'Greed' Dahlman's office, Above the Devil's Nest:**

"Thank you for coming, Miss Rockbell." The man in front of her grinned through shark like teeth. "I know that you must have a busy schedule."

Winry nodded politely as she took in the lean man sitting in the desk in front of her. He was wearing sunglasses inside his office, which she found to be a very strange thing. His black hair was cut short with a little bit of grey on the sides. He was dressed rather fancy in a well pressed black suit.

"My employer, Mr. Hohenheim, and I have drafted a contract of employment that you will need to sign if you wish to be his son's mechanic." Winry found his voice to be as almost unnerving as his smile. He had introduced himself as Gregory Dahlman, the family lawyer to the Hohenheims. When Winry had told Paninya and Sheska that she was meeting with this man, Paninya told her that he went by the nickname Greed. She was planning on sticking with 'Mr. Dahlman'.

"Thank you." She said as Dahlman handed her a piece of paper that she assumed to be the contract.

"Normally I don't go over these types of contracts with everyone, but Mr. Hohenheim stressed that I should make everything crystal clear in the off chance that you find anything concerning." Dahlman Informed her in a dry voice. "So, Miss Rockbell, if you'll please look at the top you'll see the privacy clause."

"It says that I can't discuss anything I learn during my time working for Mr. Hohenheim to anyone." Winry read from the paper.

"It does indeed." Dahlman said. "That means no talking to entities such as reporters, paparazzi, friends, family, or authorities of any nature. Any postings on social media could also be seen as a violation. Should you break this clause, you will be subject to some rather severe legal repercussions….which might actually be the least of your worries at that point." His smile only seemed to get bigger.

Winry swallowed, understanding the not so very subtle threat. Why did she always have to deal with the creeps? Winry shook herself out of these thoughts and turned her attention back to the lawyer across from her. His unsettling grin only seemed to unnerve her even more. For a brief second Winry started to reconsider coming here. That moment of doubt was quickly pushed aside as images of a broken and battered man lying on a hospital bed flashed through her mind. A man who helped her when no one else would and who she had formed a strange connection with. 'You're here to help Edward. Remember that.' She chastised herself as the lawyer started speaking again.

"Do you understand this particular clause, Miss Rockbell?" Dahlman asked. "I need a verbal confirmation for each and everyone of the clauses before we move on."

"Yes, I understand." Winry said.

"Let's say rhetorically that you come home from your work and your boyfriend asks you what you did that day. What do you say to him, Miss Rockbell?" Dahlman asked.

"Nothing." Winry answered firmly, finding the idea of this guy not knowing that she was single to be rather calming. These people had been really intrusive lately.

"Excellent. Next is the Role Clause, it's a simple one." Dahlman said smoothly. "It goes over what exactly you will be doing for Mr. Hohenheim. I think you can figure out the specifics for yourself."

Winry looked the document over carefully. It covered all the points that she figured would be there. It read that her role was to construct automail limbs and implant the ports into Edward's body. After the limbs are successfully attached than she would assist in the physical therapy, which would take from either a few months to two years. She was not required to stay on for the two years, merely get Ed reasonably comfortable with his new limbs before a professional physical therapist was called in.

"I understand this."

This seemed to please him. "So next is a Time of Performance Clause. This one can be negotiable." Dahlman continued. "As it stands, you would work six days out of every week with Sunday being the day you have off. What you do on those days is up to you as you are the mechanic. But I might add, that my employer Mr. Hohenheim wants this process to be completed in the quickest possible time."

"Automail can't be rushed." Winry interrupted him. "And it's not an exact science. You can't set a end date for this because every person's body reacts to the port implantation differently. The length of recovery can also vary depending on the person."

"We understand, Miss Rockbell." Dahlman responded. "You will be given all the time that you need to work on Edward. In fact, we've decided that the commute from your apartment in Farragut Street to the Mansion would waste too much of that time. Time that could otherwise be spent productively. So if you look at the bottom of this clause you see that we have set up a room in the mansion. Any other space that you may need will be accommodated."

Winry blinked in surprise at this. Did she hear him correctly?

"Wait? I'm going to be living in the Hohenheim mansion for this whole process?" She asked with wide eyes.

"Yes, Miss Rockbell." Dahlman responded nonchalantly. "And might I add, this particular part of the Time of Performance Clause is non-negotiable."

"This will be a long process." Winry said, sitting up more in her chair. "I can't just completely unroot myself like that. I have a life."

"Your apartment rent will be paid as you will see in the payment clause lower down. Also any belongings you have will be put in storage for safety reasons." Dahlman said as he reached forward and tapped the bottom of the document with his index finger. "If you wish to go out on evenings, your mandatory work will conclude at 6:00 everyday. You may leave for the night provided that you have returned for the next day."

"Am I Edward's automail mechanic or the house slave?" Winry asked as she folded her arms.

Dahlman paused in his reading to look at her with that same smile. "As I said. This part _is_ not negotiable."

Winry was just about to protest when suddenly the office's door opened. Winry turned around to see a young woman with short black hair enter the room. It only took her a second to recognize the woman as Lyra from the hospital.

"Sorry that I'm late." Lyra apologized curtly, thought Winry wasn't sure to who. She quickly crossed the office and sat down in an empty chair next to Winry. Turning towards the blond mechanic she explained. "Mr. Hohenheim wanted me to be present to discuss any changes to the contract that you might want."

"Ok." Winry said, looking back down at the paper in front of her. 'Damn it, why are there so many clauses.'

This was going to take a while.

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 **The Xerxes:**

"Just remember what your talking points are, Al."

"You make it sound like I'm a student about to give a class presentation."

Izumi chuckled and swiveled around in her chair to look at Al. Well it was Alphonse's chair technically, but Izumi had immediately claimed it upon entering the room. Al was currently standing across the desk from her.

"Remember that I did in fact help you with your school presentations." She folded her hands behind her head and leaned back so she could prop her sandaled feet onto the desk. "Damn, that was a long time ago." She glanced at the ceiling nostalgically.

The youngest Hohenheim gave his Aunt a crooked grin from across the desk. "Yeah, Mom was always too polite to really give me any real constructive criticism. You on the other hand wouldn't hold back and tore me apart. If I recall, you made me cry once when I kept stumbling over my 4th grade book report."

"I like to think that I made you stronger. Being able to take insults without reacting impulsively is a necessary skill. God knows Edgar never paid attention to that." Izumi informed him. "In fact, I would think of this like a presentation that you're about to do in front of a teacher."

"If I might ask, who's the teacher in this metaphor?" Al raised an eyebrow.

"May Chang." His Aunt answered as if the answer was obvious. "She'll be judging and grading every word you say. If you pause too much, she will notice and you will fail her examination. If you stumble over words or lose your confidence, you will most certainly fail. Edward was able to impress her when they met. You need to maintain that same level of respect."

"Yeah, only if I fail I'm not going to get a bad grade or detention." Al kept the school metaphor going as his fingers began to tap on the desk. "I'll probably be expelled."

"Enough." Izumi sighed clearly regretting to have drawn any comparisons with school presentations in the first place. In that instant her eyes lost their previous playfulness. Her whole body language now becoming serious as she took her feet off the desk and sat squarely in the chair. "It's time to call her."

The humor left Al's face as well and he gave a sigh of his own. "I suppose it is." He had started to play with a pen left on the surface of the desk.

Alphonse sat down in a spare chair and glanced at the cell phone in his hand. He'd put off calling May Chang for several days now. Any apprehension that Al had already possessed only got worse because his father was no doubt growing impatient. Weakness was not tolerated in the Hohenheim family. In an effort to boost his confidence, Al had asked Izumi to stop by the Xerxes. Looking back on his decision, Al knew he was probably overreacting to all of this. It was just a simple phone call, no doubt Edward would tease him about this when he woke up.

Ed would have called Chang ten times over by now. He wouldn't have been nervous and had to calll in his Aunt for support. He wouldn't have done any of those things. But Alphonse was not Edward.

Across from him, Izumi watched Al with a serious and flat face. But internally she felt sympathy building up for her youngest nephew. When Alphonse had called her about 35 minutes earlier and asked her if she could stop by, she did so without hesitation. No doubt Van wouldn't appreciate her 'coddling him', but Izumi had always been protective of her nephews. Now with one of them in the hospital, the most she could do was to help out her remaining two. Besides, Izumu understand a key fact that Van would often ignore. The fact that Alphonse wasn't the same as Edward or Edgar. Even when they were children, Alphonse had always been the gentler of the brothers. It had just been his nature. She had seen hints of the difference when it had just been Ed and Al. When Edgar had entered the scene it made it all the more clear. Ed and Edgar had formed a close bond almost instantly while Alphonse approached his new sibling more cautiously. Izumi had no doubt that deep down that Alphonse and Edgar loved each other, but they were day and night. Two polar opposites of the spectrum.

"What's the worst that can happen." Al muttered rhetorically as he dialed the phone number that Lyra had given him. Once he finished he brought the phone up to his ear and cleared his throat.

"You took longer than I expected. I was beginning to wonder if you'd forgotten about me and your family's little arrangement." May Chang's voice cut right out of the phone.

Al took a moment to collect himself before speaking in a clear voice.

"We've been a little busy."

"I assume this is Alphonse that I am currently talking to." Chang said.

"A pleasure to speak with you, Miss Chang."

"So they've supplemented the second son with the third son." Chang said. "Where I come from that would be seen as an insult."

Al was able respond a lot quicker than he thought that he would have been able to. "Had we given you Envy, you would have no doubt been barraged with a wide range of vulgar insults and possible death threats."

He glanced over at Izumi who gave him a pleased nod. Al gave a small smile back before turning back to the phone as Chang continued.

"Very well." Chang agreed. "Before your brother's accident we discussed setting up operations outside of the city."

"I am aware." Al said. "Would you like to continue that conversation?"

"You have the voice of a lawyer." May said suddenly.

"Excuse me?" Al asked with a frown.

"Your voice. It reminds me of a lawyer's voice. You wouldn't secretly be practicing law now would you?"

"No." Al said.

"You should. Anyway I would very much like to continue this conversation." May said. "Your Father's lawyer sent me the locations."

"Do any of them stand out?"

"I'm torn between two of them." May said. "The old factory on 2nd and Westbank or The warehouse on Jordan Lane East."

"The factory is closer to our warehouses in the city." Al said.

Across the desk, Izumi leaned back in the chair. 'He's definitely getting the hang of this.' She thought. 'Good job Al.' Her thoughts then drifted away from the current situation and towards Edward's condition. The doctors had said that he should regain consciousness any day now.

'If I have my dates right, then the Rockbell girl should be enduring Dalham right now.' She thought. Izumi was aware that the girl was going to be staying at the manor for the duration of Edward's treatment. It turned out that not even Van wanted to respect Urey's last wish. She'd tried to convince Ed to stay away from Winry, but it seemed that fate had brought her into the family business anyway.

'What's are you playing at, Van?' Izumi thought. It was strange to not know what her brother was planning. She knew he was up to something by letting the Rockbell girl into their home. There were world class automail mechanics who would have flown across the world if Van had asked them too. Instead he had gone to Urey's little girl. Whatever reason he'd given for hiring the Rockbell girl, it wasn't true. Izumi knew that Van wouldn't betray the Rockbell's wish unless it was for something very important.

Still she was interested in meeting the girl. Van had told her she was the spitting image of Sarah.

Besides it might be interesting having someone new living in the castle.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

'Fucking finally!'

Winry stepped out from Greed's office with a deep and tired sigh. Her legs had fallen asleep from having to sit down for so long, pins and needles tingled her nerves. Earlier when she was at Edward's hospital room, Lyra had said that she didn't have to dress formally for this meeting with the family's lawyer. But shortly after Winry first sat down almost three hours earlier, she quickly began to regret wearing jeans.

'The next person who mentions the word 'clause' to me is getting a wrench to the face.' She thought dryly.

Winry placed her hands on her hips and leaned backwards to stretch her back. A few satisfying cracks were heard as her spine was extended. Besides the now uncomfortable jeans, she was also wearing an unbuttoned red plaid shirt with a gray t-shirt underneath. Winry hadn't had much choice on the outfit because the washing machine had unfortunately broken down it her building. To top off the already subpar day, she had spent the last several hours going through that damn contract word by word and damn clause by damn clause. Winry didn't know there could be so many clauses required for being someone's mechanic.

"Health benefits clause, Arbitration clause, Mediation Clause…" She muttered outloud dryly. "What kind of job is this?"

"They don't call him the Invincible Shield for nothing."

Winry looked over her shoulder to see Lyra exiting the office. The mechanic felt her body stiffen as the dark haired female drew closer. Winry couldn't help but find this woman a little intimidating. Granted, Winry found practically every member of the Hohenheim family intimidating. But there was just something about the look in this woman's eyes that threw her off.

"Are you alright?" Lyra's slightly monotone voice cut through the air.

"Yeah, I'm fine." Winry shrugged as she wrapped her arms under her chest. "Just getting used to the fresh air."

At this the dark haired woman's lips turned up into a small smile. "I'll admit, it was rather exhausting. Gregory enjoys hearing himself talk almost as much as he enjoys torturing those around him. I've been working with that man for years and I'm still not used to it. I can only imagine how bad it was for you."

"I've seen my fair share of lawyers over the last year." Winry said with a sigh.

Lyra only nodded in response to that. "We have a taxi on its way to take you back to your apartment. If you'll follow me, please." Lyra started walking down the hallway, leaving Winry to catch up to her. For several moments the two of them walked in a slightly awkward silence before Winry decided to say something.

"So, uh, how did you end up working for the Hohenhiems?" Winry asked, but quickly followed it up with. "If you don't mind me asking." Hey if she was going to be living in the same house as these people she might as well get to know them.

Her companion didn't answer immediately as they came up to an elevator. Lyra pressed hit the down button before turning to look at Winry.

"My father actually." She said.

Winry let out a little humorless laugh. "It seems like everybody's dad was in on this. Were they all friends?"

"Well I wouldn't call them best friends, but my father was friendly with Mr. Hohenheim." Lyra said. "He did know your father though, but I'm not sure how well."

Winry looked Lyra up and down for a few moments. She looked to be a few years older than herself. Maybe early thirties or late twenties.

"Did you ever meet him, my father?" Winry asked curiously. "When he was still alive?"

"No, I'm afraid not." Lyra answered. "But I do remember hearing about him once or twice before my father died."

"Oh, I'm so sorry." Winry said, her face flushing with embarrassment. She chewed her lower lip for a moment before asking a risky question. "Would you mind if I asked how he died?"

"Not at all, I believe I was about five when it happened." Lyra said bluntly. "He was murdered by men working for Basque Grand." Her calm face then morphed slightly as a shade of anger overtook Lyra. "Do you know who that man was?" She asked Winry.

"Not really." Winry admitted.

"He was the king of Central before Mr. Hohenheim dethroned him." Lyra said as her anger quickly dissipated. "And he did so with both our fathers' help." Her calm and collected composure quickly returned.

Winry's eyes widened slightly before she looked ahead of her. "Edward mentioned something like that once, he said my dad helped his father to 'build'. Not sure exactly what that meant."

Lyra turned her head to look at Winry. For a few moments she studied the blonde's face. She noticed with curiosity that Winry's face seemed to brighten upon mentioning Ed's name. "Thank you by the way." Lyra said.

"Huh?" Winry looked back at her.

The dark haired woman's emotionless face suddenly morphed into a genuine smile. "Thank you for helping Edward. I'm sure he'll be grateful when he wakes up."

"Oh!" Winry blushed slightly. "Well it's the least I could do, considering everything that he's done for me."

Lyra raised an eyebrow at Winry's blush before giving her a knowing smile. "Still, while most of them won't say it, everyone in the family is grateful for you as well. You'll probably meet most of them soon enough."

Winry wasn't sure how to exactly respond to that. So she simply gave a polite nod. This didn't seem to bother Lyra as she kept talking.

"I'm sure you've heard some pretty horrible things about us, haven't you?" There wasn't any hostility in her question, but Winry was still cautious about answering it.

"Is this a trick question?" She asked bluntly.

Lyra chuckled. "Not at all. Just an accurate assumption."

"I've heard a thing or two." Winry said feeling a little more at ease. "And seen a thing or two."

"It's not as black and white as it initially seems." Lyra said. "Everything is always more complicated than it looks. Especially the people in this family."

"I've only met a few." Winry said with a shrug.

"I'm sure you'll meet them all before this is all over." Lyra responded.

"Should I be worried?" Winry asked.

"A little." The raven haired woman admitted.

Winry let out a sigh and leaned back against a nearby wall. "So far I've been thanked twice. Once by that man Ling at the hospital and then again by you a few minutes ago. Doesn't it seem a little too early to be thanking me? I haven't even gotten started on designing the limbs yet."

Lyra gave her a reassuring smile. "You're willing to help Edward walk again. You've chosen to look past the surface and see him for who he is. To you, Ed is just a regular person who needs your help. Not many people would be willing to that for someone like Edward. That is why I thanked you, for giving him a chance."

Winry blinked and stared at Lyra for a couple moments. "Wow, you certainly have a way with words Lyra."

Lyra seemed to take that as a compliment. "That's part of my job." She then led Winry towards the exit.

"Is there anywhere we can have the cab take you?" Lyra asked as they came outside.

"Well..." Winry responded. "I have a few things to do before I go home, but I wouldn't want to inconvenience you."

Lyra shook her head, a small smile on her lips. "Believe me, taxi fare is no trouble at all for us. Besides the driver's a friend, he'll take you anywhere you need to go."

Suddenly a cab came pulling up and parked at sidewalk next to them, catching Winry's attention.

"Well, ok I guess-"

Winry turned and saw that Lyra's face had transformed back into a mask of professionalism. "Remember." Lyra spoke up. "You have two weeks to finish any current projects. After that, if Edward has woken, you'll begin work on his automail. You should start to think about what you'll need to bring to the mansion."

Winry nodded, doing her best to keep the grimace off her face. She still had mixed feelings about having to stay there for an indefinite time. Although Lyra, that bodyguard Ling, and Alphonse had so far seemed nice; the rest of the 'family' were potential wild cards.

'Nonetheless.' Winry thought determinedly. 'I've agreed to do this and a Rockbell never backs down from a promise.' The blonde mechanic then focused her attention back on Lyra. "I suppose I'll be seeing you soon." She said, holding out her hand.

The raven hand woman shook her hand. "Most likely."

Winry chuckled before a sobering thought crossed her mind. "What if in two weeks…what if Edward is still in the coma?"

Lyra gave a sigh. "Then we'll just have to wait and pray that he wakes up."

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Central General Hospital:**

Darius and Heinkel stood guard outside of Edward's hospital room. Nurses and orderlies moved past them without sparing the pair a glance. To an outside observer it might appear that they were statues due to their lack of movement. Both of the tall men wore bullet proof vests underneath their clothing. Under each arm was a holster for a Desert Eagle and hidden under Darius' coat was a pump shotgun. They'd been standing there for the last 7 hours without any breaks. Soon enough the two of them would be relieved but until then they stood guard.

Some of the hospital staff whispered to each other in secret about the criminals' presence. So far they hadn't interrupted anyone or gotten in the way. But how much longer would they stay here?

Inside the room, the steady beat of Edward's electrocardiograph machine sounded like a metronome. The nurse had just come by to examine the bandages around his stumps. They had stopped bleeding long ago, but it was important to check nonetheless. The color had slightly returned to Edward's face. Izumi, who had been the latest person of the family to visit him, hoped that this was a good the sign.

The ECG continued to go off rhythmically. His heartbeat had been consistent for the last few days.

Suddenly, Edward opened his eyes.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Thank you all!**

 **Sorry for the long wait, I hope you enjoyed The Storm. If you haven't read that story yet, I recommend it. It's only 3 chapters long. As always I will try to get the** **next chapter out as soon as possible.**

 **Please review.**


	17. Chapter 17

**Shadowwolf1997:** I'm glad that you want to read more. It takes a while to write these chapters, but I try and post them as quickly as I can.

 **BuggyNess:** I hope you enjoy their interaction. It's been a while since they last saw each other.

 **Mother Of The Universe:** Lyra is a bit of an odd person. I like to think she's a bit like Erza from the beginning of Fairy Tail. Kind of closed off to those around her but still incredibly loyal to them. I'd be interested in hearing about these other ideas are.

 **noseinabook145:** There's a pretty interesting scene between the two of them this chapter.

 **VKLOREO23:** It's ok, I wasn't mad about the Lyra theories. I just thought it was funny that two different reviewers got suspicious of her.

 **Frankensnow:** I hope you didn't scream too loudly with this update. While the law speeches are a form of torture, it's not the only one. Winry's not out of the fire yet. There are still some future rough patches for her and for the rest of the characters. As for Al, I found that scene relatable as well. Freaking out about a call you have to make and then to have it turn out fine. Al is going to have to take on more of leadership role with Ed out of commission.

 **Guest:** I'm sure that you weren't the only one to think of that.

 **Random guest:** In a way you're kinda right. Kimblee's plan does involve Ed and Winry getting together to some degree, but thats as much as I'll say.

 **Zoo Socks:** I'm glad you got into tis story! Envy has become my favorite character to write for. I never would have guessed that I would have made one of the most despicable characters from the show so interesting.

 **SleepinBeautyK:** Yep he's finally awake. Don't worry, Ed and Winry will have plenty pf scenes together.

 **Vhosek:** Focusing on Ed's reaction has been very important part of this story for me. This and the last few chapter have taken so long to write because I'm determined to get it all of this right. As for Winry, just because I'm not having her kidnapped and tortured doesn't mean that I'm going to give her a free pass. For Greed, it's interesting with him because I want people to not know what to think of him.

 **ninelanterns:** Thanks. I'm honored to hear that. I guess this story is working out so far.

 **AutomailSucker:** I'm glad that you're enjoying the story so far! Character was something that I wanted to focus more on in this story and I think it's working out so far. The 'mystery' is one of my favorite things about this story. I'm looking forward to letting it unravel. As for the Rockbells, you're right that they do not get to do much in stories. They work well in this story because of the family connections that come with mobsters.

 **OoO**

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 **OoO**

For a while everything was a blur. There were no shapes or definitions to anything. It hurt to open his eyes so he left them closed. For a few moments nothing that could be considered a coherent thought entered his mind. Though it might of been hours instead of moments, he honestly couldn't tell. Then he started to feel. It wasn't much at first, a numbing sensation. Then like an old car engine he slowly started to come to life.

As he lay there in darkness, he remembered his name. Edward 'Elric' Hohenheim. He was the son of the most feared and powerful man in the city. That was all he could recall at the moment. Then rest of his memories started to come back; his family, his job, the people he knew, Central City. After all those questions were answered another one was raised.

Where the hell was he?

Edward felt more then heard the groan that left his mouth. It was a raspy sound, his throat suddenly feeling incredibly dry and scratchy. Soon it wasn't just numbness that Ed felt, but a dull ache as well. This slight pain was slowly starting to travel across Edward's immobile body. With great effort Ed tried to sit up, groaning as every muscle in his body felt completely useless. Not matter how much Ed tried, he could barely move even a finger. The ache seemed to intensify with every passing minute.

Slowly he regained enough consciousness to try and open his eyes again. His eyelids creaked open only to immediately close shut for a second time. A faint hissing sound met Edward's ringing ears, that was probably from him. Damn, wherever he was it was bright. 'Wait…why are my ears ringing?' Ed suddenly thought.

That's when the dull ache turned into a sharp one, particularly in his head.

Edward grimaced, his eyes still clenched shut. He tried to move his right hand to rub his head but he couldn't move it. Hell he couldn't even feel his arm.

'God, what the fuck happened?' He thought drowsily.

His left arm was a little better. At least he had enough feeling in that one to actually move it. He was still unable to lift it all the way to his face though. The same thing happened when he tried to move his legs, only one of them responded. This time his left limb moved while the other remained motionless. Damn, he couldn't even feel his right leg. What had happened to him?

'How shitfaced did I get last night?' He thought miserably, trying to remember how he had ended up in this bed.

 _Beep…...beep…...beep_

Edward suddenly went very still and listened carefully. There was a soft beeping noise, going on and on, one after the other. Like the sound of a heartbeat. More feeling was slowly coming into his left arm now. As Ed nudged it, he felt the weight of something sticking into his arm just below his wrist. Ed twisted the hand and used his fingers to feel around. After a moment or two of touching nothing but bed sheets he felt something. It was some kind of tube.

"The fuck…" Ed tried to reach over with his right arm, but once again there was no movement from that limb. Confusion was slowly being replaced by something that he couldn't identify. Edward slowly opened his eyes for a third, and once again the brightness of the room blinded him. The strain caused by the brightness only worsened Ed's headache. But he fought through it and kept his golden eyes open. At first it was all white, then he started noticing blurry shapes appearing. The blurriness soon faded however, and the first thing Edward saw was the tiled ceiling.

'Am I in the…?' Ed lowered his still weak eyes to see a heart rate monitor next to him. '...the fucking hospital?!'

A surge of adrenaline suddenly shot through Ed as he sat up dangerously fast. This panic induced movement caused his head to swirl and a crushing numbness to spread throughout his body. With a pained gasp, Edward fell back on the bed. His vision continued to swirl until it started to turn black, and Edward drifted back into the darkness.

Ed didn't wake until minutes, hours, days later? He couldn't tell as he'd drifted in and out of consciousness many times. Sometimes it would be dark, then it would be lighter. Every once in awhile he swore that he could make out the shape of a person standing next to him. At one point during this daze, Ed could have sworn he saw a pair of azure blue eyes and blond hair leaning over him. After that, he knew nothing but a numbed silence as he drifted back into unconsciousness.

The next time he woke it seemed like he'd decided finally stay awake. Edward groaned as he began to take in his surroundings. Craning his head to the side slightly, he noticed a bouquet of flowers that hadn't been there earlier. 'Neat.' He thought dumbly.

Taking a deep breath, Edward enjoyed his return to the land of the living. Inhaling and exhaling felt strange, almost like there was something putting pressure on his nose. Curious, Ed reached up with his left arm. A soft groan escaped him when his search revealed another tube, this one inserted into both of his nostrils.

'Just great.' He moaned internally.

His head wasn't as loopy as it was earlier. Perhaps whatever drugs they were pumping into him were wearing off. Still, Edward had to blink a few more times to clear his vision entirely. Now that the numbness had more or less worn off, the soreness had kicked in. He could feel it all over him. His ribs were the worst, it felt like one of them had been methodically cracked by a hammer or something. Edward winced as he shifted around, turning his face to stare up at the ceiling. Slight stinging sensations over his face informed him that he had injuries on his face too.

'Did I get shitfaced and crash my fucking car?'

Now that the soreness in his body had settled in, it kind of bothered him how he still couldn't feel his right arm. Or his left leg for that matter.

'Broken probably.' He sighed, lifting then hitting the back of his head against the pillow slightly. This caused his head to feel light for a few moments before the fog passed.

Ed's ribs screamed as he shifted around to get a look at the cast that his arm was in. His neck was too stiff for him to just glance down. He had to sit his whole body up. His eyes were clenched shut as he pushed himself up one handed and one footed. Every movement caused his body to tremble as stabs of pain wrecked him with every movement. Whoever had given him painkillers had not given him enough. His breathing was rough when Edward finally pushed himself up, gritting his teeth at the agonizing task. After some careful maneuvering Ed was leaning his head against the plastic headboard. Now in a somewhat comfortable vantage point, he opened his eyes.

Ed felt his blood freeze into solid ice.

His numb limbs weren't in casts. They weren't jacked up on so many painkillers that he couldn't feel them, let alone move them.

They weren't there!

There was just empty space where his right arm and left leg should be. Bandaged stumps were all that remained off his limbs. His right arm was completely gone, chopped off at the shoulder. He had some of his thigh remaining on his left leg, but that left no comfort. Edward's eyes were wide as his gaze quickly went back and forward between the two.

"No." His voice was a whisper. "No no no no no no nonononono!"

'This isn't happening.' He told himself in dumbstruck voice. 'I'm just dreaming, yeah, it's all just a fucking nightmare. I-I'm going to close my eyes a-a-and then I'll see its just a dream.' Ed clenched his eyes shut so tightly it stretched the healing cuts on his face. Edward's eyes slowly widened as the beeping of the heart minister began to speed up.

 _Beep...Beep...Beep_

It wasn't a dream.

 _Beep! Beep! Beep!_

Outside the room, the two guards and a passing nurse were startled by the most agonized scream they had ever heard.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

It had been a little less than an hour since Ed had discovered that he was now a cripple. None of the doctors or nurses had used that word, but what else could he be? With an arm and a leg gone was there anything else he was ever going to be?

" _Please Mr. Hohenheim, you need to calm down. Don't strain yourself_." Edward mimicked what a nurse had said to him. His one remaining hand gripped the mattress with an almost bruising intensity. "Fuckers."

The doctors had tried talking to him, but he neither paid them any attention nor even looked their way. There had been a lot of shouting, screaming, and thrashing on Ed's part for the last hour. " _Where are my fucking limbs!" "What did you fuckers do to me!" "Don't you fucking touch me, cocksucking bastards!"_ He had even struck one of the nurses when they foolishly tried to sedate him. The anger had worn off eventually and that was when the situation really hit him.

Why me?

Edward now sat, staring unblinking at the wall across from him. He hadn't moved for at least ten minutes. He had no inkling to move, in fact Ed had no desire to do anything really.

Why me?

The doctor, some old guy who's name he hadn't caught, had come in to look at him. The old man had gone on some long winded speech about his injuries, but Edward barely listened to any of it.

Why me?

Who cared that some of his ribs were fractured? Who cared if he had a mild concussion? Those were nothing, he could recover from those. He was missing an arm and a leg! His fucking arm and leg!

Why me?

Edward opened his eyes and looked down at his leg. Or what was left of it. He'd taken the blanket off him, wanting to see it. There was only about half of his left thigh remaining. Anything below that was gone. 'I don't even have a knee.' He thought. 'Why did they cut that off?' He reached down and touched the bandages around the stump. His movements were awkward and sloppy, even reaching with his arm felt wrong. Ed had been right handed his entire life. Now he was stuck with a left hand he could barely use. The busted ribs and the drugs didn't help his mobility either. He hissed at the sting his touch caused but ignored it. Ed ran his hand over the curve of the stump, touching the area that should have been flesh and bone.

Why did they have to cut any of it off? How did this even happen? He couldn't remember how he had ended up in the hospital, or how he even lost an arm and a leg. It was pissing him off. Anything could set him off. He'd yelled at the hospital staff when they came in to check on him. He'd thrown his pillow across the room when he had struggled with adjusting it. An empty tray of food had cracked the wall when he'd tried to reach for it with his right arm only to remember that he didn't have one.

With an angry sigh, Ed moved his his left hand towards the stump of his right shoulder, his fingers hovered over the bandages there.

'Why did they take my fucking right arm?!' Edward ground his teeth as anger, sorrow, helplessness, and panic all mixed together inside him. An unhealthy concoction of emotions was growing inside him. Ed knew what it was, the doctors had warned him about it. Depression.

If someone at that moment asked Edward what he felt after learning he was a amputee, he'd answer nothing. An emptiness had taken hold of Ed. Its numbing presence more powerful than the drugs that the nurses had pumped into him. Occasionally he'd feel anger, or sadness, but for the most part it was nothing. The only other time he'd ever felt this abyss inside him was when his mother had died.

He'd never walk like a normal person ever again. The simple, incredibly small actions of everyday life would now be changed forever. Eating, writing, opening doors, cleaning himself, driving, shaking someone's hand, and especially fucking.

'When was the last time that happened?' The thought sounded distant and dumb in his head.

Ed was almost allowed the sweet brief escape of remembering his previous sexual conquests when the door to the room opened. His tired eyes glanced over to see that old doctor from earlier come in. The doctor, who's tag he just now noticed said Marcoh, looked straight into Ed's glare and ignored it.

"I'm here to inform you that your father has been notified of your awakening and is on his way." Doctor Marcoh informed in his gravelly voice. "He should be here in about twenty minutes." There was a pause before he spoke cautiously.

"Mr. Hohenheim, as you are my patient I must ask you if I can-"

"Don't fucking touch me." Ed muttered, but it was loud enough for Marcoh to hear. The old doctor looked for a second as if he would argue but then decided against it.

"Try and get some rest, boy. I'll stop by again after your father leaves."

And just like that the doctor left the room. For an odd reason it like being left on death row.

Ed stared at the door for several moments, not moving. His already pale skin had somehow gotten even paler. His eyes were now wide with terror. His one remaining hand had started to shake. His father was coming here. He was coming right now. He was going to _see him_ like this.

"Fuck!" Ed withdrew his left hand and slammed it down on the bed with the force of a falling feather. Edward didn't know if he had shouted or whispered the curse. Frankly, he didn't care if the whole damn world heard him.

"Fuck!

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

Edward was staring at the window when Van entered. The nurse had poked her head in the door and informed him of his father's arrival. Ed had stayed silent and simply kept staring as she awkwardly moved to the side and allowed the Hohenheim Patriarch to enter.

At seeing his second oldest son awake and alive, Van felt a slight tug in his stomach. Some psychologists might classify that sensation as tenderness. As he entered Ed's hospital room, Van paused to truly take his son's appearance in. Edward was lying fully on his back on the bed with the blanket pulled all the way up to his neck. The shape of his right leg was visible under the covers, but next to it was nothing. Only a flat service where Edward's left leg should have been.

The elder Hohenheim deduced that Ed must be trying to hide his injuries from him. For almost two minutes no words were spoken. Van waited to see if Edward would acknowledge his presence or even look at him. When it became obvious that that wasn't going to happen, Van knew that he had to make the first move.

"There's no need to cover yourself." He said as he took a seat close to the bed. "I am well aware of your injuries."

Ed scoffed and moved his gaze up to the ceiling. He still couldn't look at his father.

A silence once again fell upon the room. Edward didn't say a thing as he tried to ignore his dad's presence.

"Edward…" Van began as he leaned closer to the bed. "You don't have to do that. I know what you must be thinking right now."

This got a reaction from his obviously depressed son. "Don't fucking say that." It was barely a whisper before Edward awkwardly pushed himself over to face Van, his eyes two burning infernos. "You have no fucking clue what I'm thinking so don't give me that bullshit!" He spat the words with an anger and hatred he'd never used before with his father. Van stared back with an unfazed expression. Edward kept up his rant.

"Y-you…you have no fucking idea what's going through my head, old man." His voice now trembled. Van could see that there were tears in his son's eyes. "You didn't lose an arm and a leg. You're not a fucking cripple! You're still all there! So spare me the 'I understand' and 'it'll be alright', because it's not!" Ed tore his eyes away and went back to looking out the window, his body looked to be shaking underneath the covers.

Van blinked. He'd never seen his son this broken and fragile before. The only other time that could compete was the day Tricia had died and the weeks that followed. Van was glad that Edward wasn't looking at him, that way he couldn't see how his father's confident stance wavered and his eyes lose their usual power. Gone was the king of Central, now there was only a old man trying to reach his son.

However, Van knew the futility of trying to console him.

'I can tell him that it will be alright, but he won't listen if it's from me. Anything I say to him, he'll ignore. That's his nature, to challenge someone else's authority.' Van wasn't oblivious, he knew his emotional absence after Tricia's death had put a wedge between him and his sons that could never be removed.

Glancing to his right, Van saw a vase with several roses in it. There was no card saying who had brought it, but he still knew it was from her. Winry Rockbell had visited Edward several times over the last few days. She'd spoken with Dr. Marcoh about Edward's condition and had taken measurements of his remaining limbs.

" _The mechanic is not just the one who builds the limbs. They are also the one who helps the patient put their life back together."_

No, he wasn't the one who Edward would listen too.

She was.

"Do you remember what happened?" Van asked.

Edward's body visibly tensed. For a moment he seemed conflicted on whether to look at his father. In the end he simply spoke without turning.

"Doctors mentioned a car crash." The voice didn't sound like Edward's. "Is that how…."

"Yes." Hohenheim answered. "But it wasn't an accident."

Ed was quiet for several moments. "What?" It was barely audible.

"It wasn't an accidental crash. The other driver specifically targeted you with intent."

"How can you tell?"

"You were rammed repeatedly before the driver drove off." Hohenheim didn't know any way to sugarcoat it.

Edward was silent for about a minute as he slowly absorbed this new information. His response came in a voice that was mixed with too many emotions for even Van to decipher. "S-so what you're saying is…someone did this to me."

"Yes." Van closed his eyes. 'It should have been me.' He thought while looking at Edward's tortured form. No doubt guilt, sorrow, and regret showed on Van Hohenheim's face in that moment. But Edward didn't see any of it. No one would ever see it. These moments of weakness were for only himself.

"I'm not the only one who is here to see you." Hohenheim said after a moment.

"Don't let them in." Ed snapped.

"What was that?" Van asked.

"Don't let them see me." Ed said, still looking away.

"There's nothing to be ashamed about, Edward." Van said. "Besides, it's not permanent."

"Not permanent?" Ed turned to look at his father with a glare. With what strength he had, Edward wiggled what was left of his right shoulder. "What the fuck does that mean? This seems pretty fucking permanent!" He glared at his father.

"I've hired you an automail mechanic." Van informed his son.

"You what?" Ed blinked.

"Gregory and the mechanic settled the contract a few days ago, so you'll be ready to begin the process once you're discharged."

"You...there's a...you've hired a mechanic already?" Ed asked quietly.

Van looked at his son carefully. It had been years since he'd seen Edward looking this vulnerable. He looked as if a strong breeze would break him into pieces.

"Get out." Ed mumbled miserably. "Please leave."

Van Hohenheim nodded and calmly got to his feet. "If you wish, Edward." He then pointed to the vase of roses next to the bed. "Those are from your new mechanic. She left them here after she took your measurements."

Ed didn't look away from the window.

Van sighed and stuck his hands into the pocket of his coat. "Are you going to mope all day alone, or will you permit your own family to see you."

A lifeless chuckle came from Edward. "You're the king. Why don't you decide?"

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **The Police Station:**

"You got the license plate number of the suspect's vehicle yesterday, did you not?" Roy Mustang asked, with only a slight hint of annoyance in his tone.

Standing in front of his desk were Havoc and Breda. The two detectives shifted uncomfortably under their Captain's hard stare. "Yes, sir." Jean answered.

"Then please explain why, 24 hours later, we are no closer to finding this suspect?" Now he sounded really annoyed.

Havoc started to unprofessionally stutter a weak response before Breda cut him off. "The plate does lead back to a particular SUV. It's out of state, but it looks as if the vehicle was never registered. It was bought using cash and there's no name to go along with it. Whoever our mystery driver is, he's smart."

Roy inhaled deeply and sat back in his chair. Next to him stood Riza, quiet and poised as usual.

"So all we have is the number of a car that appeared out of thin air and a John Doe who disappeared into it?" Mustang mused out loud. His detectives had watched every security footage in a half-mile radius of the crash. Not one of them showed the suspect's SUV approaching the scene. Needless to say this case was starting to become painfully frustrating.

"I'm afraid so, sir." Brada answered.

"But it's not a complete dead end, Captain." Jean chimed back in, seemingly determined to keep the mood positive. "Alex and Kain have started checking every auto repair shop and garage in the area to see if a SUV with that license plate has stopped there. A few other detectives are going to head to the Central dump later and check the security footage. We'll see if our boy tried to throw his car away."

Roy turned to look at the blonde male. "Have detectives Armstrong and Fury found anything yet?" He raised an eyebrow.

"Well-uh, no, not yet." Havoc admitted. "But there's still a lot of places left to check."

"Expand your search." Mustang ordered. "Get every available detective and officer to start looking through every security camera footage within five miles of the scene. No, make that ten miles." He ignored the disgruntled looks on his men's faces. "Someone somewhere caught footage of that car. I don't care how long it takes, but I want to know where that vehicle came from and where it went after attacking Elric."

Both Breda and Havoc seemed to have aged a year or two by the time he was done talking. "Yes sir." They both sounded.

"Good. That will be all." Roy dismissed them. The two detectives turned and exited the office. The door had barely closed before he heard Breda mutter his name along with an obscenity.

"Don't you think you're pushing them too hard?" Riza spoke, stepping in front of his desk to look down at him. "I don't think either of them have gotten a full night's sleep in the last week."

"I haven't gotten a full night's sleep in almost ten years." Mustang leaned back into his chair. "Is that an occupational hazard they should put on the handouts at the academy? "

Riza arched an eyebrow. Her eyes looked over Roy's appearance. The lack of sleep was starting to show. There were bags under his eyes and he was slightly unshaven. His suit was wrinkled which indicated to her that he had slept in it the previous night.

"We have to get him first." Roy said suddenly, cutting Riza off from her observations.

"Sir?" She asked.

Roy looked up, his face dropping the strong mask that he'd kept up in front of the others. "We have to get this suspect before _they_ do."

Riza nodded, understanding what Roy was saying. He continued with his speaking.

"It has to be us that get him, not them." Roy said again. "If we get him, that's one step forward to proving that we're the ones who are right. But if they get him…"

"Then it's just the same world that we've always lived in." Riza finished for him. A beat passed before she spoke again.

"So what's the next move, sir?"

"Well, I have several rolling around in my head." Mustang said, bringing his hand up to rub his temple. "Care to hear them?"

"Of course." She smiled.

"Well, lets start with plan A." Mustang began. "We release the license plate to the public in the hopes that someone sees it and reports it to the appropriate, or inappropriate authorities."

"Or the perpetrator sees their license plate on the news, and torches the vehicle under a bridge." Riza added. "Plus we risk having the Hohenheim's get their hands on whoever it is first."

"They're already looking for it, no doubt. They were informed about the plate's numbers before we were." Roy said with a grimace. "Whatever we find out, it will always be something they already know. Van has his little spiders everywhere."

"So what does that leave us with?" Riza asked after a moment of silence.

"Well plan D involves faking our deaths and getting the hell out of this city." Roy said with a smirk. "We could get a little house somewhere and open a coffee shop together?"

Riza rolled her eyes. "Let's go with whatever plan B is." She said.

"Plan B was going at this case like real detectives and solving it despite the impossible odds stacked against us." Roy said with a sigh.

"Sounds like a good plan." Riza responded. "What do we do about the Hohenhiems?"

"Well with that, the devil has a head start, but we still have to race him." Roy said.

The lieutenant arched an amused eyebrow. "Did you come up with that by yourself?"

"Maybe." Mustang responded with a cocky grin.

Before their flirtation could continue, Breda chose that time to stick his head back in. "Hey Captain we just got a call from Central Hospital. Apparently Elric's finally woken up."

The two detectives became silent. Immediately their usual stoic and professional masks reappeared.

"Speaking of the devil." Mustang murmured.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

Winry first heard that Edward was awake via a call from Lyra. When she heard the news, Winry found her palms sweating and heart rate increasing. Her nerves suddenly came alive, sending mixed messages that left the mechanic feeling confused. It was good that he finally woke up. She could start this whole thing and get it over with. So why was she getting nervous. Was it seeing him? Seeing what Elric had become after this tragedy? Winry wasn't sure.

She had been at Dominic's shop, finishing the last of her assignments when the call came. No matter how much she thought about it, Winry couldn't figure out why she had reacted to the news in such a way.

'Am I scared to see him?' Winry thought as she looked at the passing buildings. 'No, I'm not scared of him. Yet I still feel nervous. Is it because I had a pre-established relationship with Edward?' Winry paused to think about what even was her relationship with Edward Elric. 'We've met face to face twice and talked over the phone. He took me out to coffee and practically saved my life. I suppose that makes us friends.' The news of Ed's recovery had stuck with her throughout the day and had lingered even when she was trying to fall asleep that night. Despite all of her attempts to rest, Winry's mind had lingered on the golden haired gangster laying in Central Hospital.

That had been yesterday. Now Winry was on her way to Central hospital to meet with her new patient in the back seat of a black sedan. Lyra sat in the driver's seat, silent as the night. Winry didn't mind though, it gave her a chance to read. On her lap was a report from Doctor Marcoh detailing the current stages of Edward's injuries, his behavior since waking up, what medications he was on, etc.

' _Early signs of depression_ …a little early for that, but alright.' Winry thought to herself as she swept her eyes over the pages. ' _Patient has little to no appetite_ , _short temperament has led to several explicit and violent outbursts_.' A sigh escaped her lips as she closed the file. 'He's only been awake for a little more than 24 hours and is already a handful.'

Everyone reacted to the lost of a limb in their own way. Some got angry, sometimes violent. Others fell into a depression. Losing a limb was losing a piece of you. A part of you that you've always had, but will never have again.

'Technically he didn't lose it, it was taken from him.' Winry thought. She didn't know too much about the incident that had cost Edward his arm and leg beyond the injuries he sustained. But Winry did know that someone had specifically targeted Ed.

'His difficult behavior is because he is angry. Furious at whoever did this to him. Furious at God, or the universe for letting it happen.' Winry thought sadly. This was not the first time she'd had a patient who felt this way. 'He's looking for someone to blame, anything to keep him grounded. That's why he's lashing out at the doctors, because he's got no one else to blame. He'll probably lash out at me too.' The first few meetings were always rough on both the patient and the mechanic.

"Everything alright Winry?" Lyra's question shook the blonde out of her mental analysis.

"What?"

"I've been trying to get your attention for almost a minute. You looked a million miles away." The dark haired assistant briefly glanced into the rear view mirror to look at her.

"Sorry." Winry said with a sigh. "I'm just trying to plan out how to go about this."

Lyra nodded, as if she understood everything Winry was thinking. "We're about five minutes away from the Hospital."

Those five minutes only seemed to last about five seconds.

The ride up the elevator was even shorter.

"How much longer until his ribs are fully healed?" Winry asked Doctor Marcoh. Edward's surgeon had been waiting for her in the lobby.

"About six weeks at the latest." The elderly man informed her.

"Six weeks to create two ports and limbs." Winry said out loud. 'All the time in the world.'

"Why exactly do you need to wait?" Lyra asked from her side of the elevator.

"Well since I'm going to be inserting a large metal machine into his shoulder. The weight of it won't all be on his shoulder, the rest of his body is going to need to support it." Winry informed her. "If his ribs are still injured than the weight of the port will splinter them and cause even more internal injuries. The automail process can put a lot of stress on the patient's body."

Lyra seemed to accept this.

"Are you sure that you don't want anyone else in the room, Ms. Rockbell?" Doctor Marcoh asked her.

"No." Winry said. "It's important for us to have some alone time in the beginning." The elevator clicked open as they finally reach Edward's floor

"Besides, no offence, but I heard he doesn't like you." She said to which Marcoh gave an annoyed sigh. Based on the dark circles beneath his eyes, Edward had been causing the doctor all sorts of hell for the last 24 hours.

Winry stepped out of the elevator, followed quickly by Lyra and Marcoh. As they came up to the door, Lyra grabbed Winry by the sleeve and turned the other woman around to face her.

"Mr. Hohenheim explicitly requested that I inform him about every development of Edward's condition." Lyra said. "It would be easier if I were in the room with you."

"No." Winry held firm. "I don't like anything outside of myself to influence the first one-on-one meeting. You can watch other sessions we have, but this one has to be just me."

Lyra held Winry's gaze for a moment before she stepped back, a slightly impressed smirk floating on her face. Winry turned back to face the room.

"We told him that you'd be coming." Marcoh informed her. "Not sure if he was listening."

"Does he know that his new mechanic is me?" Winry asked Lyra.

"Yes. Mr. Hohenheim should have informed him the day he woke up."

'Let's hope Edward is happy to see me.' Winry thought as she turned towards the door. As soon as she opened this door there was officially no going back. Winry would willingly and finally enter the mysterious world of the Hohenheim family. She took a deep breath and then opened the door to meet her new patient.

He was asleep.

Shit.

Winry stood there as the door closed behind her, staring at him. Edward Elric was lying on the bed, eyes closed and breathing steadily. Had she not been told that he had woken up from his coma, she would have assumed that he was still in it. If anything, he'd gotten paler since his awakening. No doubt from the stress and emotional toll that the loss of limb was having on him.

At first she felt sympathy for the young blond man, but then she realized something. 'Dr. Marcoh said they told him that I was on my way up. That couldn't have been more than seven minutes ago. Yet knowing this he decides to take a nap?' Her sympathy quickly turned to irritation. Before the mechanic could do anything regrettable with this anger, she took a moment to collect herself.

'Breath in and breathe out.' Winry told herself before looking at Edward's sleeping form. 'He's still trying to accept it. Hell, everytime he goes to sleep he's probably hoping that all of this has just been one sick dream.' She slowly crossed the hospital room and stood beside Edward's bed. From this position the sunshine was landing directly on his face. It gave Ed's tired and bruised features a boyish look to them, rejuvenating them slightly.

'He looks peaceful.' Winry thought to herself as she looked down on him. 'He certainly looks more like his old self at the angle.' He was currently lying on his back with his head turned towards her. She didn't want to disturb Edward from his escape, but they couldn't ignore reality forever. Ed had a long road ahead of him and she needed to help him take the first steps.

With a gentle movement, Winry reached out and placed her hand on his uninjured shoulder. She gave him a small shake, not much, but enough to wake him. Winry retracted her hand as soon as Edward started to shift. A soft grumble escaped him before his tired eyes cracked open.

Amber gold stared up at her.

Winry almost forgot who she was looking at when she looked into those eyes.

They were so different now.

Edward shifted slightly as his gaze moved over her face. His eyes closed again and his face morphed into a brief grimace as he slowly started to push himself up. Winry didn't say anything, nor did she move to assist him. Most patients tried to hold on to some semblance of self reliance and dignity. Any move by her to try and assist him would only be met by a harsh rebuke. Watching him, Winry noticed how different his body language was. The Edward she had met in the Xerxes moved with this confident swagger that few others could replicate. Now, his movements were sluggish and defeated. And it wasn't just because he was missing an arm and a leg.

Eventually Edward was sitting against the back of the bed. He didn't look at her, in fact he avoided any and all eye contact. "How much is he paying you?" Even his voice sounded different. The teasing edge and energy that use to inhabit every word was gone. Instead there was bitterness. "Well?" He asked harshly after she didn't respond right away.

Winry pulled a nearby chair up and sat down next the bed. She folded her hand on her lap and looked at the wounded man in front of her. "Quite a bit actually." There was no point in lying.

"Ha." Edward's laugh was bitter and humorless. "I guess you'll be able to buy that automail shop now." His dull golden eyes finally turned towards her.

Winry frowned. "Edward. The money isn't important."

"Important?" Ed cocked an eyebrow. "Didn't your whole existence use to revolve around money? That's why you came begging for my help, remember?"

"Edward, I'd rather we not talk about that." Winry said, trying to sound firm.

"Then what should we talk about?" Ed asked sardonically. "Huh? Do you want to talk about this?" He pointed to his empty right shoulder."

"Edward…" Winry tried cutting in.

"Oh, how about this!" Edward flung the blanket off him and pointed to the stump of his left leg. "Because that's what everyone else in this fucking world wants to talk about!" His face had turned from pale white to dark red. Winry could see Edward's body practically vibrating with the tension and anger simmering under his skin.

Winry frowned. Reaching down into her bag, she grabbed a few spare papers and began rolling them up. Edward didn't pay attention to what she was doing and turned to look at the ceiling. Winry rolled the papers into a stick and raised it up.

Edward let out an angry sigh right before he was whacked in the back of the head.

"Ow! What the fuck-"

"I'm here to help you, Edward." Winry said in a surprisingly calm voice. "I'm not here so you can take your grievances out on me."

"Grievances!" Edward snarled incredulously. He seemed to be offended by her choice of words. "Look at me! Are you fucking blind, woman?"

"No, I'm not Edward." Winry sat back in her chair. His body language was still extremely tense. Almost like an animal on edge who would swipe at the first sudden movement. "I understand why you're angry. You're not my first patient to have lost both an arm and a leg. Once I had a client who lost three limbs in a construction accident. He was angry and short tempered at first, most of my clients are in the first week or so. They-"

"Is this speech of your's actually going anywhere?" Edward drawled, obviously not in the mood.

Winry chewed her upper lip. She thought for a moment before switching gears. "It's not your fault."

Edward's face changed, it was subtle yet she still saw it. "What?"

"What happened to you wasn't your fault. You didn't ask for this." She motioned to his arm and leg. "Hell, no one ever asks for this. Yet it still happened to you. That's what's bothering you, isn't it Edward? How unfair this whole fucking situation is."

Edward didn't respond, he sat completely still. Not seeing any resistance, Winry decided to continue. "You didn't just lose an arm and a leg, you lost parts of yourself. In the last day you've come to realize that those parts are never going to fully come back. And it's tearing you up inside." She paused to look at him. "Am I getting warm, Edward?" She didn't want to sound condescending, but if they were going to make any progress she would need to break down his walls.

"Shut up."

Winry took that as a yes.

"In the last day, how many family members have come to see you?" She asked.

Edward's frown deepened. "What does that have to do with anything?"

Winry raised the rolled up the paper club threateningly.

"Jesus." Ed rolled his eyes. "My brothers and Aunt tried but I didn't want to see them. I guess I don't have much of a choice when it comes to you."

"How did that make you feel?"

"What are you some kind of psychiatrist too?" Edward's eyes snapped towards her.

"Actually yes." Winry smiled reassuringly. "Let me guess, you didn't want to hear them say that they understand how you were feeling?"

Edward arched an eyebrow. "How did…" He scoffed and looked away from her.

"Did the idea of people saying that to you piss you off." Winry spoke calmly.

Edward was silent for almost a minute before he answered her. "Yes." His left hand drifted towards his right shoulder. He winced slightly at the touch. Ed was about to say more when Winry did something unexpected. She reached forward and gently clasped his hand in hers.

Edward almost jumped at the contact, his arm jerking under her fingers. His wide eyes quickly turning to look at her in confusion. If Winry had to guess, she was probably the first person to touch him who wasn't a hospital staff member.

"I _do_ know what you are going through, Edward. Not all of it, but I know more than most people. Please try to understand that. I'm here to help you, just like you helped me. Do you remember that?" Winry asked him, giving his hand a reassuring squeeze. Edward tensed as if he would pull away, but after a moment he stayed where he was. "You had nothing to gain from helping me. I was a nobody to you. Yet you still helped me when no one else would. I can do the same for you, but only if you let me." She gave his hand another squeeze and then sat back.

"You will walk again Edward. I can promise you that." Winry said with a reassuring smile. "Trust me. Please."

Edward was silent for several moments. His bloodshot eyes stared down at his lap. Winry sat patiently by the side of the bed. Finally he raised his bruised face and looked at her. He glared at her.

"Just leave me the fuck alone."

 **OoO**

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 **OoO**

 **Winry and Ed have a long road to go. It will be interesting to write as up until this point Ed has always been in his element during their interactions while Winry has not. Now it's a role reversal.**

 **So I hate to inform you but I'm going to be out of the country for a few weeks with minimal access to the internet. So chapter 18 will take some time. Next chapter, Envy and Al are going to be paying Ed a visit.**

 **Please review and give me your thoughts. I love to hear them.**


	18. Chapter 18

**VKLOREO23:** I'm glad that you seem to be enjoying the story.

 **Joker Oak:** Welcome back. I'm glad that the story isn't too predictable. Interesting theory about Kimblee and Greed. You'll have to see if it turns out to be true. Balancing out Ed's story going forward has been a little of a challenge as I don't want it to be too rushed or too slow. But I do want to realistically portray the experience that Ed is going through. Losing a limb or body part is an extremely traumatizing event for whoever experiences it, and I'm doing my best to do it justice. As for Kimblee's motivation for dragging Winry into this mess, all will be revealed...eventually.

 **SleepinBeautyK:** To be fair, when has any version of Ed ever been fully cooperative with Winry. As I said early on, their relationship will be a slow burn so there is going to be some head butting along the way.

 **Mother Of The Universe:** It's honor to be considered a favorite. Trust me, it's not easy to write a long story. Though I'm glad that you are in it for the long run. Thank you for your wonderful compliments. And I have to say, a volcano is a pretty accurate description for future events.

 **ninelanterns:** I wanted to make the Ed, Al, Envy scene in this chapter longer but I then decided to focus more on Ed and Winry's interaction instead. I hope you still enjoy it. Don't feel like a loser, I drop everything I'm doing to when an update comes in.

 **Vhosek:** Capturing Ed's emotions and making his reactions genuine are the most important parts of these recent chapters in my opinion. There's a lot more Edwin interaction in the future, but it might not be the most wholesome.

 **Quantum Socks:** I have an unfortunate tendency to end chapters on cliffhangers. I hate it when I'm reading a story and that happens but it's hard to resist. I'm glad you liked the Roy x Riza bits. I felt that Winry was really in her zone too. It was a nice difference from the fish out of water Winry thats been thrown headfirst into the criminal world of the Hohenhiems. This rendition of Winry might be my favorite from my stories. In Princess Bride and Little Lambs she spent the majority of the stories as victim and I wanted to stop doing that.

 **bloodynessie:** I'm surprised how angry everyone is at Ed. The original final like was much worse. He was going to tell her to fuck off but I thought that was too harsh. I wonder what the response would have been if I kept it.

 **Frankensnow:** Wow. It's amazing to hear from a person who's seen these kinds of experiences that I actually pulled it off. I was worried that I would botch the scene. If anything seems unrealistic or if I get anything wrong, feel free to point it out.

 **AutomailSucker:** Again, Ed is getting a lot of flack from you guys. It's pretty funny. I'm worried that you all might hate him after after this new chapter.

 **Pepin-Bones:** The scene of Ed waking up took me about a week to write. I wanted to make sure it was perfect and that it would feel as genuine as possible. Between you and me, its quite an achievement to hear that my writing made someone teary eyed. This chapter is pretty angsty as well.

 **Guest:** Thank you. I hope you'll enjoy this new chapter.

 **OoO**

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 **OoO**

 **Central Central Hospital:**

"Can Envy please come back in?" Al asked hesitantly.

"No." Edward immediately replied.

"Ok." Al rubbed the back of his neck nervously. "I will admit his joke was in poor taste."

Ed looked away from the window and gave his younger brother a deadpan look. "You think?" His voice dripping with sarcasm.

"You know he means well." Al shrugged. "He's…just not good at handling these kinds of situations. Do you remember when Aunt Izumi had that knee surgery and Envy…"

"When have you ever given him excuses?" Ed asked blankly, cutting him off.

"Never actually." Al responded."That's usually your job."

Edward scoffed, his body turning back towards the window. "It's not like I can do any job like this."

Alphonse sighed. Their visit to the hospital had been going relatively well up until Envy had to open his damn mouth.

The elder Elric brother and Al had arrived at the hospital not thirty minutes ago to see Ed. The injured Elric was happy to see his two brothers, smiling for the first time since waking up. Conversation had been a bit awkward at first, as the two brothers tested the waters with Ed. But Edward had seemed to be in good spirits. If Al ignored the setting and bandaged stumps on Ed's shoulder and leg, he would have thought that nothing had happened. Edward and Envy started to banter as usual, Al updated Ed on recent going ons in the the city. In fact, Edward was particularly interested in that topic. He asked Al and Envy about the latest news, dirty rumors, how business at the Xerxes was doing, details about the ongoing deal with May Chang, and what certain people were up too. Hell, he even asked Envy how Solaris was doing. This was a subject Ed never asked about since Envy's answers were often extremely graphic and explicit.

It hadn't take Alphonse long to realize that Edward wanted to talk about everything except for his injuries. He avoided any discussion about the crash, automail, Winry Rockbell, or even how the hospital was treating him. It sadly made sense to Al as the visit went underway. Ed wanted to pretend, even for just a little bit, that everything was normal. That nothing had happened, and the three of them were back to their old bantering interactions.

The illusion was broken when Envy, who had definitely not picked up on Ed's subtle conversation preferences, made this joke.

"So Edward, I hear that training for the Paralympics has started." Envy grinned from his seated position at the foot of Ed's bed. "Want me to sign you up?"

The room went dead silent as the smile vanished from Ed's face.

"Get out."

Envy's grinning face faltered. "What?"

"Get the fuck out!" Ed practically shouted.

Envy looked momentarily stunned. Al watched the scene with surprised silence. For several seconds the oldest of the three didn't move, eventually pulling himself together rising before making his way towards the door. Not before he turned to give Al a look of confusion.

That had been ten minutes ago. Al, ever the most diplomatic of the three, had been trying to smooth things over ever since.

"Ed, you know Envy's never been the best with social cues."

"And yet he's the only one with a long lasting relationship." Ed said blankly.

"To be fair, she's a raving lunatic who tried to stab me once." Al said. "Just let him come back in, apologize, and go on as if it didn't happen."

"That's what all of you seem to want isn't it." Ed muttered. Any good mood that he might have been in earlier was completely gone.

"What?" Al said with a frown.

Ed scoffed, frustration burning inside of him like embers, threatening to light up in anger. "You...dad. Hell, even Ling. All of you just want to pretend that nothing's wrong and move on as quickly as you can. Well that's not happening any time soon." He motioned to his missing limbs.

Alphonse's eyes widened. But before he could respond, the door slowly opened and Envy cautiously stuck his head in. "Hey, I know I've been exiled from the room and everything. But…uh Ling he…." Envy faltered when he saw Ed glaring at him. "Yeah, he wanted me to tell you that your mechanic is going to be arriving soon and we have to leave cause Ed needs to be prepared for something. Like right now, apparently. Okay. Um…goodbye Ed, see ya later." And as soon as he had entered, Envy ducked back out.

Al stared at the door incredulously. He had never seen Envy act so uncomfortable. Not even after he had the whole blowout with Solaris following the incident with Shou Tucker.

"So are you going to leave or not?" Ed mumbled from behind him.

Al turned to look at his older brother with shocked eyes. Never before had he seen Ed like this either. Just minutes earlier Edward had been acting like nothing was wrong, but then at the first dose of reality he reverted back to this shell.

"Ed…" Al started to speak. A deep pain forming in his chest. However once he saw Ed's dismissive body language, Al knew that any attempts at peaceful conversation would be a lost cause. Even before the accident, Edward had been one of the most stubborn individuals on the planet. He had never enjoyed showing weakness or being emotional in front of others. In his current condition, Ed's worst qualities had no doubt been hardened.

"I'll you soon brother. Please take care of yourself." Alphonse sighed before heading to the door, leaving Ed sitting alone in the quiet hospital room.

Outside Envy was standing a bit down the hall, looking somewhat like a child sitting outside the principle's office. Al's melancholiness from the meeting with Edward was lifted a little from the curiosity that rose as he watched his oldest brother. 'He and Ed are very close. What happened in there must have shaken him.' Al pondered with a sigh.

Envy was definitely someone who didn't think before he talked so what happened wasn't very out of the ordinary. Plus him and Edward were always busting each other's balls in the past.

"Sooo...how is he?" Envy asked when he saw Alphonse exiting the room.

"Grumpy, defensive, and wants to be alone." Al shook his head as he walked up to Envy. "Come on, we should go." Envy looked back at door to Ed's room with uncertainty before following.

As the two brothers made their way to the elevator, Al's thoughts drifted back to the attractive blonde mechanic who he had met not too long ago. 'Winry, you better work some damn good magic.' He thought mournfully.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Later. Outside Central Central Hospital:**

Winry waved to the to the tall man standing in the lobby. She saw him there every time she entered the hospital. Apart from knowing that his name was Zampano and that he worked for the Hohenheim family, Winry didn't know anything else about him. Frankly, she was a little cautious about finding out more about him. For all she knew, he's murdered at least ten people with a bone saw. Still, Winry decided to be friendly and acknowledge him. The bespectacled spiky haired bodyguard gave a polite nod to her before stoically going back to his watch.

With her shoes clicking against the tiled floor, Winry made her way towards the elevators. In one hand she held the tool kit that carried everything she'd need for today, the other held a binder with all of her notes that she had taken up to this point. She would have more before the end of the day.

It had been almost a week since Winry had first visited Edward after he emerged from his coma. Today she was coming in to do the impressions for the ports. Doctor Marcoh had messaged her the previous night to tell her that Edward's wounds had healed enough for them to do this procedure. Creating impressions meant that they would make castings around the stumps to create an replication of Edward's lost limbs. Once she had these impressions, she could begin the construction of the ports. She needed the casts for this because with them she would be able to determine the port's appropriate size. Her grandmother had once told her that the casting process was like building the initial foundation of a house.

It is always wise to start with a good and strong foundation Pinako had always said.

While the actual automail limbs themselves were replaceable, the port was permanent. Only under very specific and extreme circumstances would a patient have to endure the port surgery twice. It was the most at risk moment for the patient during the process. The port had to be connected to each and every one of the nerve endings. This meant that surgeries were long and laborious for the surgeon. If any of the nerves were incorrectly connected, or not connected at all, it could cause the patient incredible pain. That lead to another reason as to why the ports needed to be the right size. If the port was too small, the nerves would be compressed against each other. This would, once again, cause the patient to experience great pain. If the port was too big, it would put stress on the rest of the patient's body and in some horrible, yet recorded instances, would fall out of the patient. When something like this happened, if the patient didn't bleed out or die from the shock of such an injury, the nerve endings themselves would be destroyed. That would make any future automail efforts impossible. Once a human nerve has been severed, there is no way to fix it.

With all that in mind, Winry was determined to do the ports right. She had never messed up this part of the process before so she wouldn't do it now. Making the impression of his left leg would be easy. It was amputated above his kneecap leaving some thigh left. This would allow for her to have a very clear idea of how big to make the port. His right arm was more complicated though. Due to the extent of Edward's injuries from the crash, it had been amputated completely at the shoulder. This left her with no room to get a clear impression. However, she had learnt an easy trick around injuries such as this. Something automail mechanics would do is make an impression around the opposite, non injured, shoulder instead. From that she could get his whole arm and the shoulder area. This would then allow them to get the shoulder impression off the patient's body easily. After that, she would just have to mirror the impression in order to get a port impression for Edward's right shoulder. Dominic had taught her this trick back when she had been an apprentice. It had worked in the past, so Winry was't too worried.

On the way to meet with Marcoh, Winry walked up to a vending machine. She hadn't gotten much sleep over the last few days so she grabbed a drink to try and help her stay awake. Thankfully there was some caffeine in it. The last several nights had been spent creating sketches and possible designs for Edward's automail limbs. Winry was still in the rough draft stage though, and the impressions would help finalize the designs. As Winry stood back up after having to bend down to grab the drink, she saw someone walking down the hallway. Winry quickly recognized it to be Ling. He had a small frown on his face, but hadn't shown any indication of noticing Winry's presence. He also seemed to have just come from Edward's room.

"So how's he doing today?" She asked catching his attention. Ling stopped to look at her in surprise for a moment before answering.

"Good."

It sounded like a fake response. Winry placed her files down on a nearby chair before folding her arms and staring squarely at Ling. "Tell me for real." She said. "Better, the same, or worse?"

Ling paused for a moment as he contemplated his answer.

"Somewhere between the same and worse." He answered honestly.

Winry nodded. She figured that was going to be his answer. "Does he remember what we're going to be doing today?"

Several days earlier, Winry had told Edward that they would soon be taking the casts of his limbs. But considering his apparent disinterest in everything she was trying to do for him, he may have 'accidentally' forgotten.

"Trust me, he remembers." Ling sighed, his shoulders visibly slumping. "It's probably the reason for his…behavior so far today. Alphonse and Envy visited him earlier, we all thought that seeing them would make him feel better. It didn't end very well."

Winry raised a curious eyebrow. "What happened?"

"Not quite sure, but apparently Envy said something dumb and it was kinda all downhill after that." Ling's face seemed to age several years as he spoke.

Winry looked at the saddened look on the Xingese man's face and frowned. "What is it?"

Ling seemed to jump at her question. Almost like he was unaware his emotions had been so visible.

"Nothing." The bodyguard muttered.

Winry stood a little bit taller, arms still folded. "Mr. Yao, if there is something that concerns my patient then I have a right to know." Her stance was one of confidence and authority.

Ling was silent for almost half a minute before an aggravated groan left him. "It's just…" He trailed off before sighing again. "I thought that things would be okay, that Edward would be okay. Like once this whole automail thing started things would eventually end up going back to the way they were before. But he's been acting so different." Ling seemed to flinch at his own words before turning fully towards Winry.

"He went through hell, fucking Christ. He lost an arm and a leg! He has every right to be angry at the world. Envy put his dumb foot in his mouth but…" Again Ling trailed off.

Winry was starting to get the assumption that Ling was a person who rarely had discussions like this. She doubted emotional heart to hearts were frequent occurrences when working with the Hohenheims. Getting Edward to open up was going to be a challenge.

"Go on." Winry told him. It was obvious something was bothering the young Xingese man.

Ling took a moment to gather his thoughts before speaking. "I just don't understand why he's been treating you the way he has." He shrugged.

Winry raised an eyebrow. "What do you mean?" She'd also noticed Edward's behavior towards her, but was interested in Ling's point of view. It was slightly surprising that he was concerned for her.

Ling ran a hand through his dark hair. "I mean, you're here to help him. You're his mechanic, the one who's gonna help him walk again. Yet Ed's been treating you like shit. He's always fighting every thing you do. I just want to…aggh." Ling threw his hands up in frustration.

Winry nodded in understanding. "You want to slap him over the head and tell him to stop being ungrateful, is that it?"

Ling chuckled without a whole lot of humor. "Kinda."

Winry gave the man a smile. "I doubt doing that would help very much. If anything Ed would just retreat further into himself."

"Yeah, you're probably right." Ling muttered. "I just don't know why he's being a pain in the ass. You're here to help, why doesn't he understand that?"

Winry pursed her lips together as she thought about how to answer him. "Tell me Ling, before all this, was Edward the kind of guy who would admit that he needed help?"

Ling looked at her like she was crazy. "Are you kidding me, Ed would've rather died than do that." Some realization then seemed to come over his face. "Oh."

"Most of my clients lost their limbs due to an accident." Winry explained. "And they've all reacted differently. Some act like there's nothing wrong even though there is. Some, like Edward, react angrily and try to distance themselves. Others can become almost catatonic in their unresponsiveness due to depression, even suicidal. There's no right or wrong way to behave after going through something like Ed has. Edward was a stubborn man before this, but there are other reasons for the way he's acting." Winry's eyes then softened.

"I know he's your friend Ling, and it must be torture seeing him like this. But getting impatient at Edward or yelling at him is not going to help. He's still coming to terms with what happened to him. Every morning he has to wake up and see that his limbs are gone. Every morning he wakes up and there's a split second where he thinks he still has them. Then he has to relive what happened to him. The adjustment period is long and hard for everyone involved. I'm sure a lot of you have told Ed that things would go back to normal after I give him an arm and leg. But Ed is going to have a hard time believing that. He'll think 'what do you people know? You haven't lost limbs.' It may take weeks for him to fully come to terms with his accident. Like I said, everyone reacts differently." Winry finished.

Ling was silent for a moment, shifting his weight from one foot to another. "Damn." He muttered. "You'd make one hell of a TV psychiatrist." His tone was humorous.

"That's always a good fallback." Winry quipped as she reached down to pick her case back up. It was time to get to work. "Is everything ready for me upstairs?"

"Oh yeah, Marcoh cleared out a room for you."

"Good." Winry gave him another smile as she started moving again towards the elevator. "I'll see you upstairs."

Ling chuckled. "Sure thing Doc."

Winry took another step before coming to a stop. Turning around, she looked back at Ling. "Hey, hold on a minute."

Ling spun around. "What is it, Doc?"

Winry chewed her lip. "I do have a sensitive question, unless its a need to know basis."

"That depends." Ling hummed. "What's the question?"

"Do…do you have any idea who did this to Edward?" Winry asked quietly.

Ling arched an eyebrow. "Its funny you should mention that."

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **A diner. Midtown.**

"This is a simple yes or no answer." Darius said as he twirled the blunt object in his hand. "So what will it be Mister? Yes or no?"

"I've already told you people, I didn't see the fucking driver!" The owner of the diner cried desperately. He was seated in a chair placed in the middle of the establishment that had just been prematurely closed for the day. Standing in front of him was a hulking mobster with a slightly dented baseball bat.

"Yeah, I heard you." Darius said nonchalantly. "But I'm not feeling the certainty in your answer."

Darius promptly slammed the bat down onto the table right next to them. Now this particular bat had many razor blades embedded on its surface so it took a hard tug from the large man to get the bat out of the wood that it had embedded itself in. The weapon tore up the paint and left deep cuts on the table in its wake.

"How about you, man? Are you feeling the certainty?" Darius looked over his shoulder at his partner Heinkel. The equally large man was sitting next to three frightened huddled waitresses. He had a glass of lemonade in his hand. The other was resting on a handgun placed on the table in between him and the waitresses.

"I'm not." The tall bespeckled man said before taking a sip of his drink. "Not at all."

"Hear that?" Darius looked back down at the trembling diner owner. "Now are you _certain_ that you didn't see the driver's face?"

"I...I…" The man stuttered.

"You...you...what?" Darius taunted.

"I didn't see him. The car windows were blacked out or something! I just saw a shape I swear!"

"What kind of a shape?" Darius asked, circling the owner. "Was it big, small, male or female looking? Was there another shape sitting next him in the passenger seat?"

"I just saw…it was just a shape." The man spluttered.

The two enforcers exchanged glances. "We're really going to have to work on expanding your somewhat limited vocabulary."

 **An auto repair shop. Several blocks away.**

"So for the purpose of time, I'm going to remind you. The description of the car is a black SUV, Cadillac Escalade model. Does that ring a bell?"

"Jesus Christ, No!"

Martel sighed as she leaned back on the table she was sitting on. In her left hand she spun the tip of a combat knife against the metal surface. She and her partner had been in this auto repair shop for about half an hour. They went there to acquire on whether a certain black SUV had stopped in within the last two weeks. The car's front had been damaged when striking Edward's vehicle so it may have gone somewhere for repairs. This auto shop was one of several that was currently being visited by associates of the Hohenheim family.

"I'm telling you! The shop was closed that night. I…I got alibis!" The man pleaded desperately to her. He cradled his injured right hand with his left one.

"We're not the cops. We don't care about alibis. Besides the car could have come in the next morning." The large man hovering over the grease man growled. The mechanic gulped and looked back at the woman in front of him.

The ex-marine was close to believing this guy. His story hadn't changed yet, despite what they'd done to him so far. Either he was telling the truth, or he was good at sticking to a story. Still, the consistency worked in his favor. However Martel was a bit of a stickler, so she was going to need some more convincing. Martel glanced at her companion who was standing above the mechanic.

"Ulchi, how about you burn another one of his fingers just to be safe."

"No!" The frightened mechanic screamed as he looked back up at the man standing over him. Ulchi smiled back down.

"You heard the lady." Ulchi said, his smile almost reptilian as he held up his lighter. "It's always good to be on the safe side."

 **In an alleyway about three blocks down the road.**

"What the fuck are we even doing with this guy?"

"Don't even ask me, Roa." Dolcetto sighed as they looked down at some homeless man sitting in a pile of trash against a brick wall. He was well into his fifties and absolutely filthy. Dolcetto cringed at the scent of him and had to fight back the urge to step away.

"I'm going to ask you again." Dolcetto continued. "Did you or did you not see a vehicle looking like this." The small man held up a picture of a black SUV. The dirty man stared blankly at it for several moments, not moving a muscle. Dolcetto began to wonder if the man had just died before he suddenly spoke.

"Ah dink ah may 'ave." The homeless man slurred almost incoherently.

"Why did we end up with this shitbag?" Roa groaned, running a hand through his greying hair. "Everyone else got the fun joints to crash."

"How about after this we go bust up some of Archer's cronies?" Dolcetto said.

"Those sneaky fucks are always doing something stupid." Roa chuckled.

"Anyways." Dolcetto lowered himself down onto one knee so that he was eye level with the homeless man. "Listen, old man. If you've been wasting our time, my friend here is going to smash your legs with a sledgehammer. How does that sound?"

"Dat sounds perdy bahd." The homeless man said. "Ah jus' se-in dat car zip by. Ah don't see no driver."

"No driver huh?" Dolcetto said, standing up. "Well then I guess you were wasting our time."

He turned to the larger man. "Feel like getting violent right now?"

"On this greasy shit?" Roa asked motioning to the vagrant. "Not worth the time or effort."

"Pack it up I guess."

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Central Hospital:**

"They're ready for you upstairs, Edward."

Ed didn't respond. He'd lost track of how long he had been laying in this hospital bed.

Ever since he woke up it had been an endless cycle of repeats. It all started to blend together after a while. At least today he had some good news. He was going to get out of his room finally. It was almost going to be nice to have a change of scenery besides the view from that fucking hospital bed. Though Edward figured that once he got upstairs they'd have him do the exact same thing he was currently doing.

Lying uselessly on his back.

'Fucking useless.' Ed thought.

"Ok, so now we're going to place you into a wheelchair to take you upstairs." The nurse continued.

'Can't even go up a fucking flight of stairs.'

Ed didn't respond. The door opened to two other nurses coming in. One of them was pushing a wheelchair. The two nurses came to a stop next to the table. Ed glared wearily at the wheel chair. He'd had to ride in in a few times already, and it was definitely one of his least favorite parts of being in this hospital. Everyone looked down on him when he was in it. Sometimes people would even stop and point at him from down the hallway. No doubt the sight of _the_ Edward Elric crippled and in a wheelchair was fascinating to the bottom dwellers of Central. Several times visitors and even hospital staff took pictures of him as he passed. Those pictures were probably being posted somewhere on social media with the description 'look how the mighty have fallen.' The previous day there had been two police officers that had been in the hospital for whatever reason. As soon as Edward was wheeled into the hallway, the two cops stopped talking. They proceeded to stare at Ed like his was a circus freak before they smirked to one another. The looks in their eyes had been smug, as if they were saying to him " _Yeah, you got what you deserved._ "

But it was the being pushed around that he hated the most about the current situation. Not being able to do anything for himself. Having to rely on fucking strangers to get him from one place to another. No one asked him if he wanted to go on a ride in the wheelchair. They just plopped him in it and paraded him around like some freak for onlookers to gawk and stare at. He used to be the prince of this city, people had depended on him. But he was now a useless cripple.

'A useless crippled freak.' Ed thought bitterly to himself.

From what Al and Envy had told him, everything was running smoothly on the outside. However that didn't comfort Ed at all, instead he only felt worse. The Xerxes, his creation, was being run perfectly without him. The deal with May Chang had been finalized and she had started production of the drugs, all without him. He was Edward Hohenheim, the next in line to inherit the throne of Central's underworld. Yet he wasn't needed at all.

"Ok, so if you just sit up, I can put you in the chair." One of the men said with a no doubt fake smile.

"Do it yourself." Ed said back.

He heard the attendants sigh. Good, making their day shitty made his at least feel a little bit entertaining. Not enough to get him to laugh or smile, but it was something.

"If you insist." The nurse reached under him and hoisted him up. Before Ed could violently curse at the man he was plopped down into the chair. "Off we go." The nurse said, like he was talking to a five year old.

'That's it! I'm going to kill every fucking person in this hospital.' Ed thought.

With that, they started pushing him. Ed fazed out as he was wheeled towards the elevator.

'Fuck this.' He thought disinterestedly.

By the time he bothered to take in his surroundings again, he had arrived in the room. He was jostled out of his own thoughts by being picked up and laid out on a table like a dead fish ready to be gutted. When he looked around he saw Rockbell standing in the room. Edward let out a frustrated sigh at the sight of her. He was starting to get real sick of having to see the blonde mechanic everyday. Seeing that her patient was now here, Winry walked up to him.

"How are we feeling today?" She asked with a small smile.

"Why couldn't you have done this while I was a vegetable?" He snapped, his eyes glaring at the blonde mechanic. Rockbell wasn't fazed at all be his death stare.

"Because I see that as an invasion of your personal space, Edward." She responded cooly. "You should be awake and consenting for everything we go through."

'Consenting huh? Well thats rich!'

"Well isn't that sweet of you." Ed shot back scornfully, his face turning so he could look back up at the ceiling and the bright light blasting down at him. "How are you even doing this with the bandages on, huh?" He looked to glare at her again. "Don't you people wait until after the fucking bandages are off before you do this?"

"Some do, but you've healed enough so that we can do this." She responded. "Besides, we're going to replace the bandages momentarily with a thin rubber layer."

Ed let out an angry sigh. It hurt like hell every time they took his bandages off.

"If you're going to question my methods Edward, could it wait until later." Rockbell responded without missing a beat. "Complaining is only going to make this whole process take even longer. After we're done the doctor's are going to put on new bandages." She gave him a small yet sympathetic smile before her mask of professionalism returned. "After that, you can complain to me all you want."

"Great." Edward muttered.

Winry pulled up a chair so that she was sitting in front of Edward. Around them stood two hospital orderlies who would help her in the impression process. Winry had everything she needed for it assembled on a nearby table, now she just had to get her patient up to speed.

"Edward, did Dr. Marcoh remind you about what we were going to do today?" Winry asked in a gentle voice that Ed didn't appear to appreciate.

"Yes, mom." He grumbled. She had already told him several days ago what they'd be doing today. Why did she even bother asking?

Winry resisted the small urge to roll her eyes. Most of the times Edward's behavior was understandable, other times he simply acted like a child. 'I actually miss him when he was a cocky asshole.' She thought sadly before continuing to speak. "So making impressions can be a bit time consuming. I know patience isn't your strongest virtue, but I'd really appreciate it if you bare with me."

Edward glared at Winry for her patience comment. She continued unabated.

"So we'll be starting with your leg. First I'll wrap the stump with a thin layer of this." Winry held up her roll of plastic wrap. "This will keep your skin clean and compressed." She then placed the wrap down and picked up what looked to Edward like a long sock. "This is a nylon stockinette, this will help to capture the shape of your limb without the plaster having to touch your skin. After that is when we'll start to-"

"If your plan is to dick me around, you're doing a fantastic job." Ed drawled.

Winry had to bite her lip to keep from shouting at him. 'This is starting to get ridiculous.' She thought bewildered. Never before had she had a patient who was this uncooperative and who was just an overall pain in the ass. She understood what he was going through and what he was acting this way, but it didn't make his constant belittling any easier to endure.

"I'm sorry that this is boring you, Edward." Winry did her best not to let the frustration seep into her voice. Instead she retained a calm and professional one. "I was merely trying to explain what you should expect for at least the next hour. So can I continue or do you have any other objections?"

Ed just gave her a tired glance before resuming his staring contest with the ceiling. He wasn't just angry at her. It was everything. Everything pissed him off. Everytime he had to take a shit and needed to be placed on that toilet seat by a nurse. Every time he tried to reach for the remote for the TV and remembered he didn't have his right arm. The phantom pains weren't helping either. He'd wake up to them and it almost felt like his limbs were there. Sometimes for a few blissful moments he'd convince himself that they were. However, those moments never lasted very long and Edward returned to the harsh reality that he was a cripple.

So in the end, Rockbell ended up being the most consistent outlet for his anger. He seethed every time he had to look at her. Ed ended up seething a lot because she never seemed to leave this goddam hospital. Didn't she have life to get back to instead of throwing a pity party for him everyday?

Fighting with her wasn't really fun either, it just made him angrier. He'd say cruel things or respond rudely to a question of her's, but her reactions never satisfied him. Nothing seemed to faze her. If Edward was in a better mood, he'd probably admire her resolve. However, given the current circumstance Ed didn't feel it. Also silently taking everything she forced on him without any kind resistance had the same effect. Every session just left him feeling more frustrated and bitter. Every time a decision was made without his input, it made him angry. Nothing was helping. Nothing in this goddamn hospital, or city for that matter, could make him feel any better.

He just wanted everyone to leave him alone. Was that so hard to ask?

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Central Police Station:**

"When we catch the culprit, can I count on you prosecute him to the fullest extent?"

"You're not going shitless on me, are you Mustang?"

Roy Mustang sighed. Olivier was being her normal cheerful self as usual. She probably wouldn't stay that way once she learned how things were going with the Elric case. The investigation was still trying to find the culprit more than a week after the incident. The car's license plate had turned out to be completely useless so Central's finest were back to square one. Not seeing many other options, Mustang had sent Breda and Havoc out of state to the factory where they believed the suspect's vehicle had been manufactured. There wasn't much to go on, but they believed the car was from a manufacturer in the city of Baschool. Mostly to distract himself from the dread growing inside of him, Mustang had called Armstrong to inquire about her participation in the prosecution. If by some miracle they ever even get to that stage.

"Do you really have to ask that question?" Olivier sounded almost offended. "Of course I will!"

Mustang smirked. "Knew I could count on you, Olly."

"You're just lucky that we're on the same side." She scoffed, not making a comment on his annoying nickname for her. A few moments passed before Olivier spoke again, her voice less aggressive. "So what exactly is the current state of your investigation into Edward Hohenheim's attack?"

"Hmm, somewhere in the middle of nowhere and shit creek." Mustang drawled. "All the CCTV footage got us was what the car looked like. The license plate is probably a dead end too."

"Christ." Olivier sighed. "Do you have any idea on who could have been driving that car?"

Mustang's face became more serious. "Well considering how well he or she has hidden their tracks, they're either extremely intelligent or the luckiest asshole in the world."

"Thank god the press hasn't got wind of this. It would be a fucking field day." Olivier shook her head. "What have you been telling them?"

Roy relaxed back into his chair. "The same thing I've been telling the Hohenheims. That for the security of the investigation we cannot reveal any details other than that we're close to finding a suspect. The last part is complete bullshit, but it's kept them off our backs for the time being."

"Lying to the Hohenheims. That's a gamble." She sounded genuinely impressed.

"Good thing I've always been a slightly above average gambler." Mustang joked. He could feel Olivier rolling her eyes on the other end of the phone. "And believe me, there is a lot at stake with this case."

 _I can tell you that it will certainly be the most important case of Sergeant Hawkeye's career._

Roy had to once again reel his anger in. He'd had years of practice to master that. Ever since Maes Hughes' funeral. The thought of them taking Riza away as well was almost too much. Sometimes he wanted nothing more than to put a bullet right between Van Hohenheim's condescending eyes. That's what the old bastard deserves for what he's done to this city. It's what's he deserves for threatening to hurt Riza. If the opportunity ever came around, Roy would make sure to ask him two questions that had never been answered.

Who had killed Maes Hughes, and why?

"You're not dead, are you?" Olivier's voice cut in.

"No." Roy responded. "My mind just wanders sometimes. So can I count on your support when we bring this guy in?"

"It's my job, Mustang. My duty." Olivier responded.

"Nice they we can reach common ground on at least a few things." Mustang said. Just then his phone beeped, telling him that he was receiving another call.

"Hold on for one second Olivier, I'm getting another call." The police captain said as he checked it. "It's Havoc, I need to take this."

"It better be good news, Mustang." Olivier warned.

"As always, a pleasure." Mustang said as he hung up on her and switched to the other call. "What do you got for me, Havoc?"

"Sir...you're going to wanna hear this!"

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Central Hospital:**

"Ok now we're going to switch the bandages out with a thinner protective cover." Rockbell informed him. "Are you ready?"

"What's the fucking point?"

"The point is you don't end up with an infection." Her tone was very matter-of-factly. Like she was a teacher talking to their misbehaving or unintelligent student. "Trust me, they're not pretty."

Ed exhaled heavily through his nose. On his ever growing list of things that he hated to do at this fucking hospital, having the bandages removed was one of the worst. At least this time they were starting with his leg. The first time, they had started with unwrapping his shoulder and the sudden pain had led to him breaking the attendant's nose. After that, the staff were being more cautious and leaning as far away from him as possible. They'd also threatened to restrain him if he ever did anything like that again.

Ed inhaled sharply as the current attendant moved in towards his leg stump. He was ready for the pain this time. He hissed as they started unwrapping the bandages. It wasn't as bad as the first time because the wound had healed a bit. But it wasn't completely healed yet. The muscles and surrounding skin still ached with any real movement.

The bandages were peeled off centimeters at a time. So slow that Ed could barely stand it. One layer after another, slowly getting ever so closer to the end. It felt like he was being flayed at a snail's pace. The pain got worse as more layers came off. Still Edward steeled himself and kept his mouth at a firm line. His teeth gritting behind sealed lips. He was tired of looking weak in front of these people, especially Rockbell. He didn't want their sympathy or their apologetic smiles. Everyday Rockbell came in with her fake smiles and professional attitude. Fuck that. He never even asked her to be his mechanic.

"Have I told you people that I hate your fucking guts?" Edward finally growled out. They were about halfway through the process and already he was ready to break something. He looked around for Rockbell. Focusing his glares at her usually helped with distracting him from the pain. He was slightly surprised to not find her in the room. The blonde had suddenly disappeared sometime in the last minute.

'Guess she finally took the hint." He thought in his head as he laid back. With Rockbell gone he was focusing his gaze on the ceiling instead. He didn't know for how long Rockbell was going to be gone, but it was nice for however long it lasted.

She had been there the other time they removed the bandages. Standing off to the side as they peeled the cloths off him. Having her there made him determined to not cry out in agony even though that was all he had wanted to do. Similar to how the pain was feeling right now. It had felt like they were peeling his very skin off. Fueled by this mind numbing pain he ended up punching a female nurse in the face. Edward remembered Rockbell jumping back with a startled look on her face when he did that. He had made sure to glare at her for as long as he could during the rest of the unwrapping. Right now, as he lay there on the table Ed thought perhaps he'd finally scared her off.

"Aarrgghh." He gritted through his teeth. His resolve to stay silent had worn thin. The wrapping was taking a lot longer than it had the first time. The attendants were too afraid of him to do it quickly and were only making it worst. "I'm going to break all your fucking necks!" He glared at them. "Every single fucking one of you! You're all dead!""

Winry watched him from the outside in the hallway. There was a window that allowed her to look through. She could see him shouting angrily, but couldn't make out whatever threats and curses he was making.

'This is going to be even harder than I thought.' Winry sighed.

Her earlier words of comfort to Ling had been mostly for his benefit. In reality, Winry was feeling a bit more pessimistic. She had known that this was going to be difficult. Anything that involved Edward Elric was never going to be easy. Winry has seen patients react like this before, being bitter to the whole world and anyone near them. Elric's scornful looks hadn't gone unnoticed by her. To him, she was the embodiment of everything that was happening to him. All the pain that he was going to endure during this process was going to be her fault in his eyes. No doubt she was going to be his punching bag for the next few months. This wasn't uncommon. Often times her patients would bite the hand that was feeding them. Winry had been a lot of people's' punching bag over the years. But none of them had ever focused all of their resentment onto her.

"God, I can't wait for this to be over." Winry muttered under breath, eyes still watching Edward.

Every time Winry was in a room with Elric, she somehow felt off her game. Maybe it was the fact that she had seen what Edward was like before his accident had changed him. Maybe it could be the consistently hateful glares he threw her way all the time. Whatever it was, she didn't feel the confidence that an experienced mechanic such as herself should feel. She had made a personal connection with her patient prior to becoming his mechanic, but that only seemed to make this worse. Plus, there was little to no room to distance herself professionally from his suffering. She would be living in the same house as him, surrounded by his family and friends.

'I can't let that get to me.' Winry scolded herself. 'A Rockbell never backs down from a challenge, and they certainly never turn someone away.' Edward was just going to have to learn to deal with her, because unfortunately she wasn't going anywhere. Until then, she would just have to be power through it. After all it was her job to-

"Winry."

Winry looked to the side to see Lyra walking up the hallway towards her. As always the young woman was dressed in a smart, very professional looking gray suite.

"How was he today?" Lyra asked.

"Bitter." Winry admitted as she folded her arms. "Very bitter and angry."

"Oh." Lyra responded, her voice rather monotone.

"I didn't know him too well before the accident so I can't really say to the extent of how much this has changed his personality." Winry continued. "How did he usually handle tough situations in the past?"

Lyra took a moment to think before responding. "With a confident smirk and a loaded gun."

"I haven't seen him smile since he woke up." Winry said dryly.

"And his shooting arm is now unfortunately gone." Lyra finished.

"Don't worry. I'm building him a new one." Winry responded with a half smile.

They watched for a few moments while the attendants began to work on the bandages around Edward's shoulder. His mouth was a hard line while his remaining hand was gripping the bed sheets tightly. After a while, Lyra spoke.

"We should go soon if we want to get you set up before tonight." She told Winry. "It can be a bit of a drive out to the manor."

"I have to finish up here first." Winry said.

"As you wish." Lyra responded with a nod.

Winry sighed. "I understand that Mr. Hohenheim wants me to work as hard as I can, but I still don't know why locking me in his house is going to help."

"No one is going to be locking you in, Winry." Lyra said.

"Still kinda feels like it." Winry folded her arms angrily.

A few seconds passed before Winry glanced to the side to see Lyra staring at her with a blank expression.

"Sorry." Winry said, unfolding her arms. "Something about this whole thing has me on edge. I'm stressed out and Edward's lack of cooperation isn't helping matters either."

Lyra nodded, not commenting on the mechanic's worries. She did think about whether or not she would report on this lack of confidence to Mr. Hohenheim. After considering this for a moments Lyra decided to change the subject.

"When you're done here, would you like to inspect your new workshop and residence at the mansion?" She asked.

"It's already ready?" Winry asked, turning to look at the woman with surprise.

"That, and your room." Lyra answered. "Also awaiting your inspection."

"Neat." Winry muttered, looking back at Edward through the glass. They had finished unwrapping his stumps so it was time for her to get back in there.

 **OoO**

* * *

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 **A few hours later:**

Winry sighed tiredly as she walked out of the room. The impressions had been made and would soon be ready for her to begin initial construction for the ports. Edward had been quiet through the whole process, something that she was thankful for. Maybe he had finally gotten tired of taking all his anger out at her. Whatever the reason was, hopefully the rest of the process would be easier.

She doubted it though.

Lyra was waiting for her in the hallway.

"Ready to go?" The other woman asked.

Before Winry could answer the question. The door behind her opened. She looked over her shoulder to see Edward being wheeled out. There was a moment where their eyes meet. It was only for a moment, but in that unguarded moment, Winry saw how tired Edward looked. There were bags under his eyes and his skin was much paler than it had seemed when they started the impressions. In that brief second, Winry could see that this was just as hard, if not more, on him then it was for her. It only lasted for a moment though. Edward quickly brought his defenses back up and it was like she was staring at a brick wall again. The orderlie quickly broke their connection as he wheeled Edward away towards the elevator. Winry watched Edward's retreating form before turning back to Lyra.

"Yeah, I'm ready."

 **OoO**

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 **OoO**

 **Just to be clear, I do not think that people with disabilities or who have lost limbs due to accidents are useless. That is just Ed's thought process at the moment.**

 **I hope you all enjoyed this chapter. Please Review!**


	19. Chapter 19

**bloodynessie:** I do have a plan for Ed and Winry. All I'll say is that it'll be a little bittersweet.

 **ninelanterns** : You're probably right about them wanting to smack Edward. I did a ton of research into how automail worked. A lot of it was fan speculation, but the information still helped a lot with writing how the process should play out. I'm glad that its giving the story a realistic feel to it. Since the whole process is such an intregal part of not just the story, but Ed and Winry's relationship I knew that I needed to do it convincingly.

 **Joker Oak:** Don't worry, you'll find out this chapter what Havoc found. Its pretty big. While I do enjoy ending chapters on cliff hangers, I feel that it might be too cruel to that to you guys every chapter. Though looking back, it might have been better if I did end the chapter on that cliff hanger. As for your speculation about Greed being Kimblee's spy...perhaps that might also be answered soon.

 **hurricanehairandemeraldeyes:** Holy shit! I think you might be my new favorite person. My jaw literally dropped when I saw Kingdom had gotten 18 new reviews. Please leave a review for everything I ever post from now until forever. I absolutely loved reading every single one of your comments. Thank you for your enthusiasm for this story.

 **VKLOREO23:** I'm glad you loved it! Thank you for reviewing.

 **SleepinBeautyK:** The thought has definitely crossed her mind. Canon Winry probably would have hit him by now, but in this situation it might only make things worse between them. Plus Van probably wouldn't react too well if Winry just starting beating Ed with a wrench.

 **AlteMilch:** I'm glad you're excited by this story, but please don't have a cardiac arrest on my account.

 **Loopy Socks:** This whole process is exhausting for both Edward and Winry. I wanted to show portray the situation where neither of them were necessarily in the wrong, and you could sympathize with both of them.

 **Ash the Aura Guardian:** Remember that this Edward is very different from the canon version. Ed in my story is someone who had everything handed to him on ailver platter before the accident, so its a much harder transition for him. But don't worry, Winry has this covered.

 **Rhaella Tully:** I'm glad you enjoyed the chapter. Winry being all confident professional mode is a nice change of pace from the nervous Winry that has to deal with all these crazy gangsters. We'll see more of nervous Winry in this chapter though. They'll be a few other first time meetings that I hope you enjoy.

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 **Farragut Street:**

"What do you want to do with these books?" Sheska asked over her shoulder as she examined the bookshelf in front of her. "Are they coming with you or staying here?"

Across the room, Winry paused in her packing. "If you want them then you can have them." She sighed to the girl behind her before folding another shirt and placing it in the suitcase. Her bookworm friend gave a tiny squeal and reached for the books, but her hands were slapped away by another hand.

"Oh don't you even think about it." Paninya eyed her girlfriend while pointing a finger at her. "I'm tripping over the books that you already have lying around. We don't need any more."

Sheska gave a sheepish grin.

Paninya shook her head and turned to look at Winry. The blonde was standing at her bed with an almost filled suitcase in front of her. She was packing the last clothes that would come with her to the Hohenheim manor. Paninya and Sheska had come by to help her.

Looking at her friend, Paninya could see the stiff posture of Winry's body. The tension coursing through the blonde mechanic was palpable. Glancing back at the bespectacled women to her left, Paninya saw that Sheska had noticed this as well.

"We shouldn't let her do this." Sheska whispered. "It's so dangerous and-"

"And it's her choice, not ours." Paninya finished for her. She still remembered the argument her and Winry had not too long ago. Winry had accused Pan of always treating her like a child. Upon reflection, Paninya could see why she thought that way.

"We can't make Winry's decisions for her. This is her life." Paninya sighed. She still had her reservations about this whole situation, but she would respect Winry's decision. Plus, Paninya had made the blonde swear that she would bring her gun to the manor. The knowledge that her friend at least had a weapon brought her some small comfort.

"But-" Sheska started to protest but stopped at the look Pan gave her.

"Its her life, so it's her choice." The taller woman said firmly. "Now get your cute ass back to packing." She gave her girlfriend a quick tap on the backside causing the bespeckled girl to give a rather high pitched squeak.

Paninya rolled her eyes before walking over to her blonde friend. "Is there anything else that you need us to help with?" Paninya asked as she came up next to Winry. The mechanic blinked as she was pulled from her thoughts before looking over at her friend.

"Could you help me bring these out to the living room?" Winry asked, closing the second of two suitcases that were on her bed. "I'm sure there'll be some kind of suited henchman to help me carry these down to the car when they get here."

"And you're sure that you don't want us to be around when they get here?" Paninya asked as she hauled one of the suitcases up.

"Definitely." Winry grabbed one as well. "Believe me, you do not want to get involved with these people. Besides this is like the fifth time I've met with them. They haven't killed me yet."

"Yet?" Paninya raised an eyebrow, her tone not amused at all.

"Easy there soldier." Winry shook her head with a smile. They placed the bags down on the rug. "Look." Winry said as she stood up. Her and Paninya were looking each other straight in the eye. "This whole situation has nothing to do with you guys and I'd like to keep it that way."

"Something I learned in the army was to never go into a situation alone, and to never let a friend do the same." Paninya said.

"I'm not going to be alone." Winry said, looking Pan in the eye. "I've gotten to know a woman named Lyra. She's going to be the one showing me around. She's pretty nice."

"Is she hot?" Sheska asked from across the room.

"Hey!" Paninya folded her arms, giving Sheska a fake glare. Sheska laughed and turned back to what she was doing. Paninya turned to Winry.

"So is she hot?"

"I don't know." Winry said with shrug. "I don't really look for that in women." It wasn't as if Lyra was unattractive, far from it. But her usually cold personality might be a bit of a turn off though. "I guess. I don't think she's your type though."

"You'd be surprised." Paninya said with an amused laugh. "If you'd a told me five years ago that my type would be a glasses wearing bibliophile, I wouldn't have believed it."

"Hey, what's wrong with my glasses?" Sheska asked with a frown.

Winry chuckled. She appreciated that Sheska and Paninya's usual banter was cheering her up. It kind of helped to alleviate the growing brick that was taking shape in her stomach. That slowly growing object had been there since Winry had first been told that she would be relocated to the manor.

While Pan and Sheska were debating the inherent sexiness of glasses, Winry took her suitcase and brought it out into the living room. She dragged it down the hallway and in front her couch before coming to a stop. Already out there were her automail tools neatly organized into various containers.

'Why am I getting the feeling that this might be the last time I see this place?' Winry looked around the apartment before shaking her head at the pessimistic thoughts. 'Stop it Winry! This is just another client. I've already signed all one thousand and one of Greed's damn contract clauses; there's no going back. Besides, Edward needs me.' Despite Edward's recent attitude, she was still determined as ever to help him. Even if half the time she wanted to bash his head in with a wrench.

'Being out of the hospital will help him. He'll feel free, less caged.' Winry thought with a small smile. She had grown to actually miss the old Edward that she had met at the Xerxes. Despite his arrogance, he had still been kind to her. And although Winry would never admit it out loud to anyone, his bad boy personality had been kind of sexy. 'Grandma did warn me.' Winry thought with a chuckle as she remembered her rather interesting, if slightly rebellious, high school years.

'But that's not to say that he isn't still attractive.' Winry thought to herself. His accident didn't change that. She had seen many relationships fall apart due to new automail or the loss of a limb. Sometimes when man or a woman became injured, their significant other would leave them. The reasons for these breakups were always the same. Either the automail made them uncomfortable or they thought it put too much strain on the relationship and they couldn't deal with the responsibility.

Those kinds of people disgusted Winry. 'Just because someone has lost a body part doesn't make them any less human, or less worthy of love.' She suddenly found herself becoming irrationally angry, standing there in her living room. Many times in the past, Winry had found herself comforting a broken hearted patient who's companion/spouse had left them. These moments of abandonment were often very damaging for the patients. In the oncoming weeks she would expect Edward to become depressed over this issue. No doubt he'll eventually claim that his injuries would forever turn off all women he'd ever meet. Several of Winry's male patients had done that in the past. When the moment that he feels that way does happen, it would be her job to convince him that he is wrong.

'That will certainly be an interesting experience.'

Suddenly something caught Winry's attention and she glanced at the wall over the couch. Hanging there in a wooden frame was an old degree. Letting go of the suitcase, Winry walked over to the couch and took the degree down. Holding the frame in front of her, Winry looked down at the document inside with a sad frown.

 _University of Baschool._

 _This is to certify that Urey Donald Rockbell has been admitted by this university to the degree of BACHELOR OF MEDICINE AND BACHELOR OF SURGERY._

Winry had read those words hundreds of times, yet looking at her father's old medical degree always made her feel melancholy. She held it carefully in her hands. The frame was old. It was probably the oldest thing in her apartment at the moment. Her father had become a doctor several years before she born. This thing was well over 30. Winry had thought about getting a new frame as the current one was a bit cracked, and the back of it was oddly thick. Yet she could never bring herself to do it. This was one of the few belongings she still had of her parents.

'Dad…did you know Hohenheim when you got this?' Winry thought to herself, she could see her reflection on the glass. 'Were you already involved?' Her parents had first met at Baschool Medical University where they fell in love. That much she did know. But Winry still had no idea when her father and Van Hohenheim had actually met. Were they childhood friends, and if not, how did they meet?

With a sigh, the blonde mechanic placed the degree back on the wall where it belonged. 'Perhaps, I'll find out.' She thought to herself before heading back to the bedroom.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Central Police:**

The curtains to Roy Mustang's office were drawn down, leaving no visibly into the room. The door was shut and Detective Breda stood guard outside to make sure no one tried to listen in on what was being said. They couldn't take any chances of this information getting out.

Roy stared down at the photograph in front of him. It was a rather grainy image taken from a CCTV camera outside of a car dealership in Dublith. But that wasn't the important part, no the real importance was what was in the image. Captured on it was man entering the dealership, he was dressed casually but his face was mostly covered by a baseball cap. However due to the camera's positing, the bottom half of the suspect's face was visible as well as his left eye. Next to the CCTV image was another picture, this one more recent. On it was a man walking across an intersection with a coffee in his hand. His face was completely visible and had a striking resemblance to the man from the dealership.

'Patrick Vincent.' Mustang read the name written at the bottom of the photograph. 'Are you the man we're looking for?'

Both men seemed to be the same height and weight, based on the photographs. The jawlines looked similar as well, plus both men appeared to be bald. They could very well be the same person, but Mustang didn't want to jump to conclusions.

"He paid in cash?" Roy asked, not lifting his eyes from the desk surface.

"Yes." Answered Jean Havoc, one of the several detectives crowded into the office. "No debit or credit card."

Mustang nodded. "Smart enough to not leave a paper trail, but not smart enough to give a fake name." He observed with a frown.

"If I may sir." Riza interjected, stepping next to him. "He bought this vehicle well over a year ago. I doubt he was planning to kill Edward Hohenheim that far back, so there would be no need for him to be so careful."

"Perhaps." Roy mused, sparing a glance at his lieutenant and also secret lover. "Alex, what do we have on Mr. Vincent?"

The large detective stepped forward. "I'm afraid we don't have a lot, sir. He doesn't have much of a criminal history, except for a few speeding tickets." Armstrong's deep baritone cut through the crowded office.

"So he has a history of incidents on the road huh?" Havoc pointed out.

"Yes, but that doesn't necessarily make him our mystery driver." Armstrong responded before glancing back down at his notepad. Alex and his partner Kain Fury had just finished a background check on Vincent. "But this however, you'll want to hear." A certain gleam seemed to enter the large detectives eyes. It was a look that Roy recognized, the satisfied look you get when you think you've found your suspect.

"What is it?" He asked. Havoc and Riza leaned in as well.

"It would seem our Mr. Vincent used to work at a certain casino downtown." Alex informed them.

Mustang arched an eyebrow while Havoc's jaw dropped. "You're kidding me." Jean mumbled before a toothy grin appeared on his face.

A small smirk appeared on Alex's face. "Until six months ago, Patrick Vincent worked as a chip counter at the Xerxes casino."

Silence met this new revelation as the other three detectives absorbed this new information seeped in. The silence was broken by Havoc doing a spontaneous fist bump.

"Yes! This has got to be the guy!" The excited chainsmoker exclaimed. "Just think. Vincent's all happy and set in his job, then suddenly he gets fired. Angry and bitter about it, he decides to go after his former boss. We have a motive right there." Havoc quickly glanced around to see if his hypothesis was accepted.

Riza glanced at Roy before speaking in a calm voice. "Thats a good guess Jean, but we shouldn't assume."

Havoc looked like he was about to protest when Roy stood up from his desk. "The Lieutenant's right, this case is too important to make assumptions." Havoc visibly deflated.

"Still…" Mustang started, glancing back at Armstrong. "This is enough to take Vincent in for questioning. Did you get a home address?"

Alex nodded. "Yes, it's on the outskirts of the city. Kain has been watching it all morning. So far Vincent hasn't been back to his apartment."

Roy glanced at the closed window. "Does anyone else know about what you've just told me?"

Armstrong shook his head. "No sir, we were strictly confidential."

Mustang nodded and looked at Havoc. "How about you Havoc?"

Jean looked almost offended by the indication. "No way in hell sir. As soon as we found out Vincent's name we came straight to you."

"Good." Roy said as the stress and anxiety from the past few weeks started to dissipate. "From here on in, no one else knows about Patrick Vincent. Not even the other detectives in this precinct. If he is indeed our suspect, he'll be dead the minute that the Hohenheims learn his name. We have to get to him before that happens." His eyes trailed over the three detectives in front of him. "Everyone grab your coats, we're heading out to join Furey."

"Yes sir!" They all answered.

Roy smirked to himself as they all headed for the door. 'All right, Van Hohenheim. Time for you to see that law and order still lives on in this city.'

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Outskirts of the city:**

Winry couldn't help the nervous feelings that she was experiencing, and her hands wouldn't stop shaking. They had started shaking the second that the Hohenheim car had pulled up in front of her apartment. The sight of this earned a rare chuckle from Lyra, who had noticed as Winry climbed into the passenger seat. Winry was grateful that the dark haired woman was the one driving her to the Hohenheim mansion. One familiar face would probably make all the difference in the world once they got there. Winry didn't quite know what to expect when she got to her temporary new home. Based on past experiences with these people so far, the smartest thing for her to do was to expect the unexpected.

Currently she was occupying one of her hands by drumming it against the handle of the passenger seat door. Feeling anxious and slightly bored, Winry glanced over at Lyra. Even way she drove was professional and controlled. They hadn't spoken much to each other since the drive began, except for the initial greetings and small talk. However, there was a question that had been bouncing around in Winry's head for the last few minutes. Seeing that they still have some time before reaching their destination, she decided to ask.

"Do you know how my father met Mr Hohenheim?" Winry asked, breaking the silence.

She'd been thinking about that since looking at her father's doctorate degree. Winry didn't know if Lyra would know the answer to that question, but it couldn't hurt to ask. Lyra looked over at her with a raised eyebrow. The sudden question after the prediomitly quiet drive must have been a surprise for her.

"Pardon?" She asked.

"I was just wondering if you knew how my father and Mr Hohenheim first met." Winry said again. "I don't know anything about it?"

"Oh really?" Lyra seemed surprised by that. "While I don't know much about their friendship, Mr Hohenheim never speaks of it. I do know that they grew up together."

"Wait what?" Winry's eyes widened.

"According to his sister, they were childhood friends who knew each other from birth."

"Wow." Winry said, mostly to herself. She laid her head back against the seat, staring at the road in front of her. 'These people probably know more about my parents than I do.' Winry thought sadly. 'Did I really even know them?'

"I'm sorry." Lyra said.

"For what?" Winry asked, suddenly pulled from her thoughts.

"That you never knew about any of this." Lyra replied politely.

Winry nodded solemnly. "My parents wanted to protect me or something. That's what Edward told me." She said with a sigh. "Well I ended up getting involved with you people anyway so I guess this was meant to happen."

Lyra simply nodded and turned back to the road. Winry was about to go back to looking out her window when she noticed something off about the other woman. Her hair was short so it didn't cover anything below her jaw. On the side of her neck there was a light purple bruise. It was barely noticeable, but Winry knew what it was.

It was a hickey.

Winry blinked in surprise. She knew it was absolutely none of her business, but it was weird to see a hickey on a very stoic person like Lyra's neck. There were smaller marks around the one that had caught her attention. Some looked old, others looked more recent.

Winry looked away before Lyra could see her staring, a small smile on her face. She'd be mortified if she was caught. Lyra was intimidating. Winry couldn't help but chuckle at that thought. It was a little hard to be scared of a person who had hickeys all over their neck.

'You think you know a person.' Winry thought. 'Good for you Lyra.'

The rest of the ride was passed in silence and before Winry knew it, they were pulling up a hill with bright green grass and hedges on either side. It all led to a very large and expensive looking gate. 'Damn, how much did that thing cost?' Winry wondered as the gate opened.

Then Hohenheim Manor finally came into view.

Winry's eyes widened as they pulled up the long driveway. Was she seriously going to spend the next couple of weeks living in this palace? It was huge! The manor had to be five stories tall with white marble walls and a beautifully tiled roof. In a sense, it was the perfect home for a family like the Hohenhiems.

"Home sweet home." Lyra said, smiling at her companion's awed reaction.

"Do you live here?" Winry asked, not looking away from the tall walls of the building in front of her.

"I have a room for myself, but I mostly stay in an apartment in the city." Lyra said. "There's more privacy there."

Winry nodded as the vehicle came to a stop. Lyra turned the car off and moved to get out. Winry finally snapped out of her stupor and hurried to keep up with dark haired woman. She stepped out into the gravel driveway and moved to open up the back, but was was stopped by Lyra.

"Don't worry about your luggage." Lyra said. "We'll have someone take them to your room and then your workplace."

"Can I see that now?" Winry asked, licking her dry lips as she glanced back up at the manor. She honestly had no idea what the space she was going to be working in looked like.

"You will, but first there are some people you should meet." Lyra gently took Winry's arm and started to lead her towards the manor's extravagant door. The gravel crunched under their footsteps as they approached Winry's new home. The blonde mechanic tried to crush the anxiety that suddenly blossomed inside of her. Quickly she thought of seeing Edward in the hospital, him laying comatose on that bed and her resolve immediately returned.

Up ahead of them, the large doors to the mansion opened and a small suited man stepped out. Winry looked him up and down, based on the man's appearance he looked to be a butler. The two women ascended the staircase where the small elderly man bowed in respect.

"Welcome to our home, Ms. Rockbell. My name is Giolio Comanche and I am the head butler of this manor." The butler spoke politely.

Winry gave a smile. "It's nice to meet you, Mr. Comanche." She reached out to shake his hand, which he accepted after a moment's hesitation.

Giloio nodded and held the carved wooden door open for them. "If you follow me, Ms. Rockbell."

"Thank you." Winry said before stepping inside, Lyra moved to followed but her phone suddenly buzzed in her pocket. Coming to a stop, the black haired woman pulled it out and looked at the message on the screen. The muscles on her forehead clenched for a brief moment before relaxing into a calm expression. "I'm sorry Winry, but you'll have to excuse me. It would appear that I'm needed elsewhere."

Winry frowned, but tried to not to make her disappointed obvious. "That's alright Lyra, I understand."

Lyra nodded. "I'll see you later after you're situated." She said quickly before making her way back towards the vehicle.

Winry watched the other woman leave with a deep sigh. 'There goes my only ally.' She thought disheartedly. To be honest, she'd been hoping for Lyra to stay with her when she first entered the Hohenheim manor. They were still a family of criminals after all, and Winry wanted at least one familiar face with her.

'Too bad Alphonse is at the Xerxes, and Ling is at the hospital.' Those were the only other two members of the Hohenheim organization who she was familiar with and they weren't here either.

"Miss Rockbell?" Giolio's voice cut through her melancholy thoughts. "Are you alright?"

Winry quickly turned around and smiled reassuringly. "Sorry, I just got lost in thought for a second. Shall we go in?"

The white mustachioed butler raised an eyebrow, but didn't comment. "After you, madam." He ushered her into the manor.

The inside of the Manor was just as extravagant as the outside, even more so. As Winry gazed around in slight awe, Giolio spoke up.

"If you follow me, Miss."

Winry turned. "Uh, where are we going to exactly?" She asked.

"Your equipment and luggage will be brought to their respective locations." Giolio said to her. "Mistress Izumi would like to meet you as we settle things in."

"Izumi Curtis?" Winry asked. She remembered Edward mentioning he had an aunt named Izumi.

"Yes, Miss." Giolio nodded. "She regrets to not being able to meet you at the door, but would very much like to meet you in the Billiards room."

"You have one of those here?" Winry asked.

"Yes ma'am." Giolio nodded as he turned around. "If you'd kindly follow me."

Winry didn't make it several steps before a loud voice rang out throughout the house.

"ALRIGHT, WHO WASHED THE BLOOD OFF MY SWORD!"

Winry stopped in shock and her eyes widened when she spotted the source of the shout strutting down the stairs in front of her.

"Ah Master Edgar." Giolio said pleasantly, although his body did tense slightly at this new arrival.

'Edgar?' Winry thought before her eyes widened again. 'Oh shit….its Envy!'

She couldn't believe the sight of him.

While Edward and Alphonse looked like two modern mobsters that you'd see in a movie, Envy looked like the evil minion of some weird 80's apocalyptic movie. He had long, spiky green hair that was as wild as the rest him. His skin was a almost deathly pale. A contrast to the slight tan of Edward's skin. Envy was wearing a black t shirt with a bloody pentagram and spiked leather pants. Along with that, he had military boots with more spikes on the laces. His arms were bared with leather wristbands that, guess what, had more spikes on them. He did not appear to be as built as Edward, but he was definitely taller. She could see he had muscles under his clothes, but they weren't as defined as Ed's. And the look in his eyes was almost manic. If it wasn't for the sword in his hands Winry would have been unable to look away from his eyes.

"Who the fuck did this?" Envy raised his sword, which happened to be a katana, up in the air and pointed at the clean shiny metal. "Who cleaned my fucking sword?"

Winry blinked and looked at Giolio who answered calmly.

"I couldn't say, Master Edgar." He said, keeping a careful eye on the blade. "If I might ask, what do you intend to do with that weapon?"

"Slice a chop off of whoev-" Envy trialed off when he caught sight of Winry who was staring at him with a slightly open mouth. Envy looked her up and down before grinning.

"Now who are you?" Envy skipped down the last few steps so he was now right in front of Winry. The sword was resting on his shoulder.

"I...I..." Winry didn't know how to respond to this guy. Of all of the Hohenheims, Envy had been the one she'd been the most nervous to meet. His rather vicious reputation was well known.

"You...you?" Envy smirked teasingly. "You seem kind of nervous. Is it the sword?"

He swiped the katana off his shoulder and held the blade right in front of her face.

"Cool isn't it?" He asked with a proud grin. "It use to be cooler before some asshole wiped all the blood off it?"

"Why was there blood on it?" Winry asked, she knew the answer and she might be sick.

"Funny story, you see-"

"Miss Rockbell is here for Master Edward's automail." Giolio cut in, looking at Envy with a stern expression. Although there was a significant height difference between the two men, the old butler didn't seem intimidated by the green haired rogue.

"Rockbell?" Envy pulled the blade away and held it by his side. He studied Winry for a few seconds before his eyes widened in realization. "Holy fuck, you're the girl that Ed was jizzing his pants over a few weeks ago."

"I'm sorry, what?" Winry took a step back, her cheeks blushed. Next to them, Giolio facepalmed.

"Ohh she blushes, how cute." Envy leaned in causing Winry to take another step back. "If I wasn't in an ever escalatingly serious relationship with a beautiful psycho, I would totally flirt the shit with you."

The green haired gangster then paused to give Winry another appreciative once over. "Still, I can definitely see why little Ed had such a crush on you. You're definitely his type!"

'A crush?' Winry thought dumbly at the word, her eyes widening. Thankfully a savior came to her rescue before the conversation could get even stranger.

"Edgar, leave her alone!"

Envy jumped back at the sound of the voice and seemed to almost snap to attention. Winry turned to see a tall, black haired woman with a billowing white coat walking towards her.

Winry assumed that this must be Izumi Curtis.

"Come on, I was playing nice." Envy whined, sound more like a child then a grown adult.

"Go play somewhere else." Izumi ordered.

"Fine." Envy rested the dull side of the blade back on his shoulder and walked towards the door. "When I get back this swords going to be nice and bloody again. I don't care where, or who, I get it from." He called back before kicking open the door and strolling out. Winry stared at the closing door with a mixture of shock and horror as the sound of a car speeding off could be heard.

"Sorry about that." Izumi said with a tired sigh. "Edgar has peculiar way of meeting new people."

"What should I uh…call him exactly?" Winry asked awkwardly.

"Definitely Envy. Calling him Edgar will only piss him off." Izumi said with a tired sigh. "Hello, you must be Winry." The older woman held her hand out.

"Yes." Winry shook it. "Mrs Curtis, right?"

"Yes, now let me get a look at you." The woman's voice had quickly changed from a hard growl to a soft and calming tone, almost motherly. She placed her hands on Winry's shoulders and looked her up and down. "Oh my, you've certainly grown up." Izumi said with a fond smile. "You look just like Sarah."

"I'm sorry, have we met before?" Winry asked confused.

"I went to a few play dates at the park back when you and Edward were toddlers." Izumi said before grinning. "You were just two walking potatoes with arms, but that never stopped you and Ed from getting into trouble."

Winry blushed at the older woman's description, she still found it weird that she and Edward had been childhood friends. It was almost frustrating that everyone else could remember this and she couldn't. But who remembers anything when they're a toddler?

"What kind of trouble?" She asked.

A nostalgic look came over Izumi's face. "Let's see, you two would toss mud at each other and anyone who tried to stop you. Some hair pulling, and toy stealing also occurred.

"Seriously?" Winry asked.

"Yes, but oddly enough you two never angered each other."

"Speaking of Edward, when is he being brought back to the Manor?" Winry asked as she successfully stopped another blush from staining her cheeks. Just saying Edward's name made her remember Envy's words from a minute earlier. Thankfully Izumi's voice was able to snap Winry out of these thought.

"Tomorrow." The dark haired woman said. "But I'm not interested in hearing the details of the process."

"Oh." Winry said, surprised.

"No I'm sure you have it all figured out. It wouldn't be my place to intervene." Izumi said. "I just want to be certain you're comfortable with the Manor."

"Am I going to get the grand tour?" Winry asked.

"It's not grand or anything, but it'll keep you safe." Izumi said. She turned to Giolio. "Check to see if everything's going ok out front."

"Yes Mistress."

"Safe?" Winry asked

Izumi turned back to Winry. She motioned for her to follow her and started walking.

"This isn't a normal house, Winry." Izumi said as Winry moved to catch up with her. "You know full well what happens here. With that there are a lot of unsavory people." Izumi turned and gave the blonde a reassuring look. "Don't worry, none of the people here will hurt you in any way. But it's best that you don't walk into the wrong room at the wrong time."

They came to a stop at the end of the hallway where Izumi turned to look at Winry. "Listen Winry, since you're our guest I should be honest with you."

Winry frowned nervously. "Ok." She said unsure.

"I think Edward may have mentioned this, but when he first told me that you had come to the Xerxes I forbade him from seeing you again." The older woman admitted rather sheepishly.

Again Winry fought an oncoming blush as the _crush_ quickly danced through her brain. 'Dammit why does that happen every time someone says his name? Get it together Winry!' The blonde briefly licked her lips before responding. "He uh…may have mentioned it." Winry inwardly cringed at her nervous tone.

Thankfully Izumi didn't seem to notice. "I only did that because I wanted to honor your parents' wishes. I was close to Urey and Sarah. That is why I also had some reservations about you being Edward's mechanic." She told her honestly. "However in the end it was your decision, not mine. I want you to know that if you ever need anything, or if Edgar is being bothersome, that you can come to me."

"Thank you, Mrs Curtis." Winry said, unsure of what else to say to such a statement.

Izumi nodde. A few moments passed before her neutral face faded away into a small almost motherly smile.

"Edward's like a son to me." Izumi said. "Thank you for helping him."

"Don't thank me yet." Winry said with a tired sigh. "I can barely get him to pay any attention to me."

"If he gives you any trouble, just let me know." Izumi folded her arms. "We're all here to help him, so we're here to help you as well."

Winry nodded at the other woman's words before her eyes quickly widened. A sudden realization hit her. Her mouth fell open slightly as thoughts ran through her head. Izumi raised a confused eyebrow at the young woman. Winry didn't notice. She was too wrapped up in her thoughts.

'Damn it!' She thought. 'I've been going about this all wrong. Ah, I'm such an idiot! It's so fucking simple.'

She looked up at Izumi who was looking at her with concern.

"Mrs. Curtis." Winry said. "You just gave me an idea!"

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"Checking in, how's everyone's situation?"

"We're good in the back. No sign of anyone yet." Answered Furey. Him and Alex were stationed in their cop car behind the building in case Vincent tried to use the back entrance.

"All clear up front. But it is starting to get kinda cold." Breda complained over the radio. Unlike the two other pairs, Breda and Havoc were outside. Both detectives were stationed near the entrance to Vincent's residence.

"No pain, no gain Breda." Roy chuckled before placing the radio down. He then glanced at the two other occupants of the vehicle, Riza and her partner Vato. "How about you two?"

Vato gave a sigh from the back seat. "I just can't wait for this guy to show up. Jesus, how long have we been waiting here?"

"Not nearly as long as you think we have." Riza responded, before looking through a pair of binoculars at the door to the apartment building.

"Anything?" Mustang asked.

"No." Riza answered. "What is Vincent's job again?"

"He doesn't have one. He's been getting unemployment checks ever since he got fired." Roy informed her.

Riza nodded. After a moment she put down the binoculars and looked at Roy. "Sir, what do you think the chances are that this is actually the suspect we're looking for."

Mustang frowned as he looked out at the road. "I won't make any assumptions until he's in a interrogation room. But I will admit, he does seem like a likely suspect."

Seeing that Riza was waiting for him to elaborate, he continued. "The attempt on Edward Elric's life was not done by a professional. It was too sloppy and messy to be the work of a hitman. There were about several dozen ways that they could have efficiently killed Hohenheim, but the suspect chose to ram him with a car. All of the signs pointed to a untrained civilian being the one behind the wheel, at least to me they did. So yes, I believe that Vincent appears to be a likely suspect."

"Careful Captain, that sounds a awful lot like an assumption." Vato chimed in from the back seat.

Roy chuckled. "You got me there, Falman."

Riza shook her head at the men's antics and looked again through the binoculars. A few moments passed as she scanned up and down the street. Suddenly Riza's eyes widened and a soft gasp escaped her.

"Captain! I have eyes on the suspect."

Immediately Roy grabbed his own pair of binoculars and looked to where Riza was watching. Sure enough, a man who looked a hell of a lot like Patrick Vincent was making his way down the sidewalk towards the apartment building where Havoc and Breda were stationed. Mustang looked the approaching man up and down to confirm that it was indeed their suspect.

'He's bald, same jaw and facial structure, about 5'9 in height.' Roy thought before practically ripping the radio as he lifted it. "All units, we have eyes on the suspect. He is approaching from the north. Repeat, eyes on the suspect. Moving to engage, over."

Swiftly and silently the three detectives exited the parked car. Up ahead of them Havoc and Breda had backed up as to make themselves less conspicuous. Being careful to not draw any attention Roy, Riza, and Vato crossed the street as Vincent made his way closer to the apartment building.

"Remember, let me do the talking and don't scare him. We need Vincent alive." Roy didn't take his eyes off of Vincent as he spoke.

"Yes sir."

'At the rate we're going, we should intercept him when he reaches the door.' Roy thought. Glancing to the side he saw Jean and Breda were waiting for them to make the first move. 'Good.' Mustang said to himself. 'Nothing can go wrong, not tonight.' Up ahead, he could see that Vincent was dressed in rather drab clothes and had clearly not shaven in a while. The man's appearance was rather sickly as well, Mustang noticed with curiosity.

Just as their suspect started to take his keys out, Roy came to a stop several feet away from him. "Patrick Vincent?" He asked. They had to confirm it was him before making the arrest.

Vincent froze in his movements, his hand still in his jacket fishing for the keys. Slowly he turned to look at the police captain with dull eyes. "Yeah, who's asking?"

Roy suppressed a grin. They had him. "Mr. Vincent, we need you to come with us for-"

 **Bang!**

Pain exploded through Roy's body as the bullet tore into his chest. The dark haired man let out a gasped cry of pain and fell back from the force of the gunshot. Everything seemed to move in slow motion. As he fell, Mustang got a brief glance at the gun in Vincent's hand before another gunshot rang out. A red hole suddenly erupted in the center of the bald man's forehead before he too crumpled to the ground.

Roy felt arms catching him and someone speaking into his ear, but he couldn't understand what they were saying. The pavement was hard beneath him, half of his body was draped over it while the top half was being held up by Vato. All of a sudden everything seemed to get hazy. Out of the corner of his eyes he could see Riza, her arm outstretched with a gun in hand. The same gun that had just shot Patrick Vincent. Her beautiful brown eyes whipped towards him where they widened in horror.

"Roy!" Her voice was heavy with emotion.

Pain continued to radiate from Roy's chest, he tried to look but his head felt as if it was weighed down by bricks. A warm and heavy liquid was starting to run down his stomach, all coming from the source of the agonizing pain. As his detectives swarmed around him and tried to stop the bleeding while one of them was calling an ambulance, all Roy could do was look at the dead body of Patrick Vincent.

'Dammit.' He thought weakly. 'We almost had him.'

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 **Later that night:**

Shou Tucker would admit that he was not a very pleasant man.

Maybe it was the perfectionist inside of the him. The desire to have something transpire and be exactly how he wanted it to. That's how he handled everything in his life. Anyway he wanted something to be, he made it. He warped the girls and boys working for him into exactly how he wanted them to be. If he needed to add more characteristics to them, or remove something, he did it. Whatever his clients needed, Shou Tucker provided. To prepare for that, he took his beautiful specimens and created anything he could think of with them. That way if there was anyone new who came in with a particular interest or wanted to be provided with something new, their particular taste could be quenched.

When things didn't go his way, it made him angry.

That's why he hated Solaris.

All he had wanted was that girl. Her name was Juliet, he recalled. The incident had gone down weeks ago, but it still permeated his thoughts. She had been the perfect canvas for a brand new idea of his. The color of her hair, the proportions of her body. It had all been perfect for his designs. His men had been breaking her in when Solaris' underlings came in to his establishment and stole her from him.

It was shameful, really. Such potential wasted after so much hard work on his part. He could have turned that girl into something beautiful, a true work of art.

Shou didn't understand why Solaris cared so much about each individual girl under her. There were hundreds of girls to replace them in this city. Shou would know, many of his specimens came from the poorer districts. They were desperate creatures who were easy to lure in with the promise of work and money. Often times his prey were not the brightest tools in the shed, their poor upbringings didn't provide much education. This made them easy to condition. They were also very disposable, not many people cared for missing girls with no family or prospects. Once he was done with them, there were always more to take their places.

'It's rather like fishing.' Tucker mused, his fingers drumming against the leather of the limo's seat. 'I cast my line and reel a few in, but there's always more where they came from. Why can't that sentimental twat understand such a simple truth; everyone is expendable.'

'Even a wife and daughter.' He thought after a moments pause.

Now back on the subject of Solaris, Tucker had received an interesting offer. Several days earlier, Yoki had called Shou and promised him revenge on that damned woman. He said that a man named Kimblee was the key to getting the vengeance that he so desired. Now Shou considered himself a reasonable man, and was thus a skeptic of such a claim. He remembered Yoki mentioning this Solf J. Kimblee character not too long ago, but hadn't thought much of it until now. Tonight he would finally see for himself whether this Kimblee was worth his attention.

'If this is a waste of time, I will not be happy. Not at all.' Tucker thought as his limo came to a stop. Shou stepped out of his car and look at the familiar building. He was outside of Yoki's main office building, the designated spot for this meeting. This little get together had been a rather irritating event to set up. It was originally supposed to have taken place a few days earlier, but recently Shou had found himself a new project. She, or should he say _It_ , was turning out wonderfully and Shou just couldn't take his attention away from the beautiful creature. The girl had been the oldest child of a family of twelve and was desperate to help support her family. She had been heavily resistant to his ideas, even trying to escape his establishment several times. But what money couldn't persuade, brute force could. His hard work had paid off. His latest angel was now enjoying it's new life with it's very first client at this very moment.

But now that was over and it was time to meet this mysterious Kimblee. Shou walked across the parking lot towards the office flanked by two of his bodyguards. The building was right next to the race track that Yoki often used for bets. It had an eerie and quiet atmosphere. Shou rather liked it.

Before Shou could even knock on the door, it was opened by Yoki.

"Shou, good. Come in. Come in." Yoki said hurriedly, his eyes scanning up and down the street. Shou noticed these antics.

"Why so paranoid, Yoki?" Shou said as light gleamed off his glasses. "It's not the first time I've visited your office at this hour."

"I know, I know." Yoki said, still sounding nervous. "Just get in already."

Shou arched an eyebrow and stepped in. "You seem quite nervous tonight, my friend." He said in a monotone voice.

"Well Kimblee's been breathing down my neck for the last two weeks trying to get me to set up a meeting. What the hell have you been doing?" Yoki demanded.

"I've been busy working on a new investment." Tucker answered flatly. "She was quite stubborn."

Yoki gave a sigh and closed the door after Tucker's bodyguards entered. "Shou, I don't think you understand. This is _not_ a man who you should cross." The short man's beady eyes stared at Shou pleadingly.

Tucker cocked his head curiously. "Oh my, he must certainly be something to have rattled you this much." A pinch of sarcasm found its way into his voice.

"Cut that shit right now." Yoki pointed a finger up at Shou. "This guy could be it! He could be the one who finally helps us bring those Hohenheim fuckers down. So please be nice and make him like you."

"Make him like me?" Shou scoffed mockingly. "'This isn't the third grade. We don't have to get along in order to work together. Whether we like each other or not, it doesn't matter. All that matters is if our end goals are the same."

With that Shou pushed past a disgruntled Yoki and walked towards the direction of Yoki's office. Shou knew his way there and found it easily. Walking up to the door, Tucker waited until his bodyguards had caught up and then opened it. The door parted to reveal a room with a single occupant behind Yoki's desk.

"Shou Tucker, your reputation precedes you."

"Mr. Kimblee, I presume." Shou drawled.

The man in white smirked, lips curling sinisterly. "You would presume correct." He folded his arms neatly in front of him.

For a few moments the two men studied each other from across the room. Examining him, Shou noted that the man in front of him carried himself with a extreme amount of confidence. Kimblee's posture, to the glint in his cold blue eyes, gave the impression of a man with a plan. Even right now Shou could see those calculating eyes at work, the man in white had sized up the armed bodyguards as soon as they entered the room. In only a few seconds it looked as if he'd already found all of their weaknesses. Besides that, Shou also noted a strange and unnerving aura that Kimblee seemed to exclude. Even sitting behind a desk, the raven haired man held an intimidating presence. Almost as if he was a higher being, or some monster, who was looking down on the mortals set before him.

Also, there was something strangely familiar about the slightly younger man.

'I can understand why Yoki is so skittish.' Tucker mused to himself. Nonetheless, Shou wouldn't be intimidated so easily by a man he didn't know.

Looking Kimblee right in the eye, Shou entered the room before glancing around. He arched an eyebrow at seeing that Kimblee was alone.

"Experience has taught me that it is a mistake to go into a hostile situation without any backup." Shot quipped, turning back to look at Kimblee.

The dark haired male chuckled. "No doubt it has. Paranoia may be an irritating characteristic, but it is a key survival trait. I can assure you, Mr. Tucker, that this is not a hostile situation." Kimblee's body was relaxed, as if he knew there would be no trouble.

Tucker glanced to his side at Yoki. "Our mutual friend here has told me that you are not a man to cross." He motioned to the smaller man.

Kimblee's eyes landed on Yoki who shied away from his gaze. "He would be correct." He said with an almost predatory grin.

Shou narrowed his eyes and continued. "He also told me that you can acquire for me something that I desire. Or should I say someone."

Kimblee nodded, a pleased look on his face. "That would also be correct." He paused before standing up from the desk. "I can imagine that it is very frustrating, Solaris Bailey being under the protection of Edgar 'Envy' Hohenheim. Any move against her would bring Envy's, and by extension Van Hohenheim's, wrath down upon you. I don't see any benefits for you in that arrangement. In an conflict the scales would tip towards her, all because she spreads her legs for one pathetic man."

Shou was silent for a moment before speaking. "You said that you can help me kill that sentimental bitch. But forgive me Mr. Kimblee, you don't strike me as a man who does anything for free. Before I can strike any deal with you, I have to know. What do you want from me in return?"

Kimblee moved until he was standing on front of the desk, hands causally in his pockets. "You're right Mr. Tucker, I do want something from you. I want you to help me destroy the Hohenheims. Their businesses, their empire, the entire damned family."

Behind him, Shou heard one of his bodyguards fail at suppressing his laughter. No doubt they believed such a feat would be impossible.

"Can it be done?" Shou asked after a moment of thought. Next to him Yoki turned to his friend with a surprised expression.

"It's already started." Kimblee took his hands out of his pockets and clasped them behind his back. "I'm sure you've been paying attention to the news."

Shou's eyes widened. It was hard to shock a man like him, but Kimblee had done it. "It was you! You're the one who crippled Edward Hohenheim."

Kimblee gave a serpentine smirk. "Yes. The accident that injured him was arranged by me."

Shou looked at Yoki for confirmation, the moustached man nodded. Glancing back at Kimblee, Tucker frowned. "Less than a hour ago, I heard on the news that the police killed a suspect for that crime in a fire fight."

"And they will believe that they got the man who injured Edward Hohenheim, and they will soon close their investigation. The Hohenheims will also cease their harassment of you and your colleagues. They will let their guard down and become vulnerable." Kimblee spoke confidently. "The man who the police shot was named Patrick Vincent, who they will soon discover had a inoperable brain tumor. Inside Vincent's home will be enough evidence to link him to the crime without any room for doubt."

Shou was silent, the man in front of him had completely captured his attention.

"So was he the one who did the deed?" Shou asked.

"No I had more capable assistant behind the wheel." Kimblee answered. "Vincent's cancer had made him tired of life and he wished to die. He owed me a favor so I gave him what he wanted"

Kimblee paused to let the words sink in.

"So, tell me Shou." He asked with a smirk. "Are you impressed so far?"

Tucker lifted a carton of cigarettes from his pocket. "I am, which in itself is something that rarely happens." He lit one of the cigarettes and placed it in his mouth. "So if I help you, in the end I get Solaris? I've decided I don't want the bitch dead quite so soon." No, he would make her suffer more pain then any human could withstand.

"You have my complete assurances on that." Kimblee answered.

Shou took a puff before blowing the smoke out. "Alright, I'm in."

Next to him Yoki gave a sigh of relief.

Inwardly, Shou's mind was buzzing with excitement. 'I have so many ideas for you Solaris. I don't know how I'm going to choose.' He could turn that whore into one of his creations, maybe have her be used and defiled by his customers for a couple years until she was begging for death. Perhaps he'd eventually kill her, once he'd had his fun.

Kimblee smiled triumphantly, this had turned out better then he had expected. Moving back around Yoki's desk, he reached into one of the cabinets and pulled out a bottle of red wine. "You've made a wise decision, Mr. Tucker." Kimblee's serpentine voice cut through the air as he poured himself a glass.

Shou took another puff of the cigarette and grinned. "So you've got me on your side, what's the next step?"

Kimblee took a sip of the wine and turned to look at the two crime lords. "Van Hohenheim's strength and his influence is vast, I'll need an army to take it all down. That's where you two will come in. Tell me Shou, do you know any likeminded individuals who want to see change come to this city."

Tucker nodded thoughtfully. "I know of few other people who might be willing to lend a hand."

"Excellent." Kimblee placed his wineglass back on the desk. This was all going according to plan. "Mr. Youswell?"

Yoki gave a startled jump at being so suddenly addressed. Quickly he pulled himself together and stood up straight. "Yes."

"Not too long ago you asked if I had a spy in Hohenheim's organization. Do you remember that? I believe it was the day after Edward Elric's accident."

Yoki swallowed nervously while Shou's eyes sparkled with interest. "Yes, I do." He stammered out. "If I recall, you never gave me an answer."

"I needed to test your loyalty, first. Only a fool would play all of his cards at once." Kimblee chuckled before sitting back down in Yoki's chair. "As a show of our new partnership, I'll let you meet her right now" He then loudly rapped his right knuckle on the desk several times. The sounds echoed throughout the room. "I'm sure the two of you are already acquainted with Ms. Rial."

The door to the office opened once again and a raven haired female entered the room. Both Yoki and Shou's eyes widened as they recognized her. With her short dark hair and familiar black suit, there was no mistaking it.

Lyra Rial gave the befuddled criminals a smirk. "Hello gentlemen."

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 **Yep, it's Lyra! You guys were right the whole time. Congrats to Mother of The Universe and VKLOREO23 for correctly guessing it. Also I think this version of Shou Tucker is the most messed up character I've ever written.**

 **Please Review!**


	20. Chapter 20

**bloodynessie** : I can't promise any smutty scenes soon, but they'll be here eventually. Don't worry.

 **ninelanterns** : Fun fact about Lyra and Winry's 'friendship'. I originally didn't have them act so friendly around each other, but when everyone started to guess that Lyra was the traitor I went back and edited their scenes.

 **Mother Of The Universe** : With Tucker I just decided to do every horrible thing I could think of. Also I'm curious as to why you thought it was Lyra to begin with. I thought I was being clever, but then you correctly guessed it was her so I'm wondering what gave it away?

 **Joker Oak** : Don't worry, Edward is in this chapter.

 **JayBlackwell19:** Lyra has her reasons. You'll find them out eventually.

 **Pepin-Bones** : I'm glad that you're concerned for Roy. You'll find out what happens to him this chapter.

 **Bounty Socks** : Unfortunately we won't be seeing as much of them in the next few chapters as Winry will now be spending most of her time around the Hohenheims.

 **VKLOREO23** : I laughed when I read your review. I hoping for reactions like this.

 **SleepinBeautyK** : I decided to leave some clues before the big reveal.

 **Tshh** : I think your English is fine. I'm honored to have an international fan! Thank you for the compliments and I hope you enjoy this new chapter.

 **Criis55** : I'm glad that you enjoyed Princess Bride. I will say that it has been interesting working with a darker Edward, and there will be more of him in later chapters. I understand that the way in which I organize chapters might be a little confusing, but I do my best to make them flow well. As for you question about Juliet, this is a AU world where Alchemy or Homunculus don't exist. So she is her own separate person, completely independent of Trisha. As for your other questions, you'll just have to wait and see.

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 **Central Police Morgue:**

It was eerily quiet within the Central morgue, located directly underneath the police station. Most of the staff had been told to vacate the floor, except for the necessary members.

The white sheet over the deceased man made him look small, a lump under the white canvas. It was quite a fitting sight. That's what he was, a small man who had attacked his son in such a cowardly way. Van Hohenheim thought this to himself as he stood next to the corpse of Patrick Vincent, the man who had crippled Edward. Standing behind him, on one side, was Izumi and on the other was Scar.

"See, would you look at this. I told you my men would deliver for you, Van. And did I disappoint?"

Van glanced from the body in front of him to look at Commissioner Raven. The head of Central's Police department had wanted to personally show off the corpse of the man responsible. Raven had a rather large, prideful smile on his face.

"Show me." Van commanded.

A nervous medical attendant walked forward and tugged back the sheet from the dead man's face. The white fabric pulled away to reveal the man underneath. He had rather plain features. Slightly balding with a few skin blemishes. Nothing too eye catching, apart from the bullet hole in the middle of his forehead.

"What can you tell me about this man?" Van kept his eyes on the corpse.

Raven turned to the medical examiner of the police station, Doctor Knox.

"Well first things first, Mr. Vincent here had cancer." The gruff middle aged man said. "An inoperable brain tumor to be exact."

Izumi and Scar exchanged a brief glance as Van continued to stare down with a blank, unreadable face. As soon as they had gotten the name, Van had set all of the family's contacts and resources into finding out how this man could be connected in any way to his family. Or if he was connected to anyone else in the city. Heads would roll if the latter turned out to be true.

Izumi was waiting for the call for if or, more likely, when they found something. The police were looking into any possible connections also.

'Maybe they'll find this information first as well.' Van thought with a small hint of anger. The police had found this man before his agents had. Why? Maybe he truly was starting to lose his edge in his later years. Despite all of his power and resources, Van had been unable to find the man who had so severely injured his own son.

Izumi's phone rang.

'They found something.' Van thought.

Izumi answered. "What do you have?"

A few moments passed as she listened to whoever spoke on the phone. Raven shifted off to the side. No doubt he had wanted to be the one to provide the dead man's motive. Izumi's eyes flicked up to Van and she ended the call.

"Come with me, Van." She said, motioning for him to follow her.

Van followed her towards the exit. Raven tried to follow too, but was stopped in his tracks when Scar stepped in front of him. Knox and the medical assistant glanced at each other, both staying where they were. Izumi opened the door to the room and walked out into the hallway. Van followed his sister out and stared at her expectantly.

Izumi turned around and cleared her throat. "He worked for Ed at the Xerxes." She told him. "He was fired over a year ago for performance issues, shortly before his cancer diagnosis. According to Vincent's landlord, he became a recluse after that. Barely left his apartment or received visitors."

"So it was a harbored grudge then?" Van asked with a sigh, closing his eyes. Was it really that simple?

"It would appear so." Izumi answered grimly. "The police found newsclipings in Vincent's apartment about Edward, pictures as well. Apparently he'd been stalking Ed for some time before the attack. Vincent had mapped out the routes that Edward usually used to drive to the Xerxes and back, no doubt waiting for the right moment to strike."

Van was silent as he absorbed this information thoughtfully.

Izumi looked away from her brother and kept her eyes downcasted. "I know that you want it to be more than that. I do too. But as it stands, it appears Vincent was working alone."

'Some terminally ill nobody, an insect, was able to cripple my son in _my_ city.' Van's hands clenched into tight fists. In that moment the king of Central felt a sense of helplessness that hadn't arisen since the day that Tricia first became sick. 'After everything I've accomplished, I still can't keep my family safe.' He closed his eyes and waited for the anger to pass before looking again at Izumi. "Find out everything you can about Vincent. I want to know where he bought his food, who did he talk to, who were his friends, how he became employed at the Xerxes; everything. Keep me informed if any additional information comes to light."

His sister nodded.

Van was quiet for a few more moments before looking at her. "Captain Roy Mustang was shot and injured trying to apprehend Vincent. Is that correct?" He asked.

"Yes, he's still undergoing surgery." Izumi replied.

"Call Gregory and inform him that I want all of Mustang's hospital expenses paid for, in full." Van said.

"I will, Van." Izumi said before asking. "What are you going to do now?"

"Edward will be getting out of the hospital today." Van said. "I know that he neither wants to see, nor hear from me. I'll give him some space and go visit Gregory at the Devil's Nest. We've needed to discuss contracts with Isaac McDougal anyway."

"I'll be there to meet him when he gets home." Izumi then watched her brother carefully. "You know you should really take it easy. One man can only take on so much responsibility."

"Don't bother telling me to do that now." Van said as he turned to leave. "It's far too late in my life."

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Central's Northern Districts:**

"If you want to buy my equipment you're going to have to prove that you can pay for it."

Frank Archer leaned back in his chair. His office was located in the back room of a construction company's warehouse. Easy storage for large shipments that his customers may require.

Frank listened to the other person on the phone's response. This customer was careful about rolling out money.

"Your prices are outrageous." The man on the other end of the phone complained. "What's stopping me from going to the priest?"

"Well you can always go to Cornello." Frank answered smoothly. "But the old man doesn't provide quality half as good as mine. Save a buck or two, just remember that when your AR15's fall apart during the middle of a shootout that at least you can die a slightly richer man."

"Ok...ok I hear you." The man said with a resigned sigh. "Can we at least talk about about lowering the price?"

"I have other clients I could be making money off of right now." Frank said. "Why don't you call back tomorrow when you're ready to invest in some reliable assets."

With that Frank hung up the call. That man was probably not going to call back. Good, he was a fool. Fools were not reliable customers because they got themselves killed easily. The best kind of customer were the ones who were smart enough to stay alive. That way they could keep coming back to buy more and more equipment for him.

Whether it was weapons or vehicles, people in this city either went to two people; him or Cornello. The two of them were the real salesmen of Central. Anyone else who tried to step into their business did not last long. At the moment, the two arms dealers were at an semi-easy truce. Cornello sold his merchandise in the southern districts of the city while Archer sold to the north.

Suddenly his phone rang. With a sigh, the former military colonel reached for the buzzing phone with his automail hand. Looking down at it, Archer recognized the name of the contact. He arched an eyebrow before accepting the call.

"What do you want, Yoki?" Archer asked.

"How do you feel about the Hohenheims…"

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **The Hohenheim Manor:**

Winry stared down contemplatively at the table in front of her. It had taken her almost a day, but she was finally all set up in her temporary workshop. The room was a spare located in the basement. Thankfully the space was air conditioned and the temperature could be adjusted. Working with automail was tricky, a really cold temperature could lead to possible frostbite while high temperatures could burn the patient. Also it was a hard and sweaty job so being able to relax in cool air was an added bonus. The air conditioner at Dominic's had broken down a few weeks ago. Thankfully this location would suit her needs. Like everything else in this mansion, the room was larger than it probably needed to be.

A workshop desk had been set up with her tools neatly arranged on it. The schematics for Edward's automail ports were neatly laid out on the surface. She had already started to assemble the foundations for these parts, but Winry still had more work to do on that. Located in the center of the room were two objects that the Hohenheims had constructed for her. One was a padded chair similar to one you'd see in a hospital or dentist's office. Every automail shop had one of these. The chair was large and padded so the patient would be comfortable. It also had supports for the arms, legs, and neck. This chair was mostly used later in the automail process once the port or ports had been attached and the limbs would need adjusting.

The second piece of furniture was a sanitized metal operating table that had been bolted firmly into the floor. Unfortunately this one was less comfortable then the chair, and was used more in the early stages of the automail process. It would be on this table that she would insert the ports into Edward's shoulder and thigh. After he recovered from that, she would attach the two metal limbs.

It had taken almost a whole day for everything to be brought down here and placed correctly. 'This place is a damn maze.' Winry thought in her head. Despite the tour that Izumi has given her the previous day, she had still gotten lost almost immediately. If the manor's butler Giloio hadn't found her, she was convinced that she'd still be wandering the halls. Pushing some hair behind her ear, Winry remembered the warning that Izumi had given her when she first arrived.

 _But it's best that you don't walk into the wrong room at the wrong time._

Staying in this place was making Winry slightly anxious. So far there hadn't been any incidents, but she hadn't been in the manor that long. Winry often found herself wondering what would happen if she did end up going into the wrong place at the wrong time. Izumi has said that no one would hurt her but if it came down between her or one of them, she would probably be a dead woman.

Winry remembered back when she and Edward had gotten coffee and there had been a person in the trunk of Edward's car. If she did end up pissing the wrong person off, would they get rid of her like that? Or would she get lured into a room and shot in the back of the head. Or perhaps someone would sneak up from behind with a garrote and choke her to death.

Winry shook her head to try and dispel all the scenes that she had seen in the movies. 'I need to stop thinking like that.' She sighed. Though recently her life had gotten so strange sometimes it felt like she was in a film.

'Time to get serious.' Winry thought. 'Edward is finally getting out of the hospital today.' She had been given several hours to prepare for his arrival. They would be starting their sessions immediately, Van Hohenheim's orders. Winry's original schedule was to start teaching Edward some body exercises within the next couple of days, starting today. And up until her tour with Izumi, Winry would have started Edward on these exercises no matter what. However, after some time to think, she was going to do something different.

Eventually though, they will have to do those initial sessions. Which would be similar to physical therapy. They were designed to exercise and strengthen the muscles necessary in Edward's body to support the weight of the automail incisions. Despite all of the complexities, automail was technically still a big piece of metal so it would put a heavy strain on the body. That's why Winry needed Edward to prepare himself for that. He would have to strengthen several key back muscles as well as his abdominals. These would be exercises that he would have to perform regularly to keep his body in the right condition to support the new automail. Today was going to be about showing him how to do those.

'But before we can start with that, there's some things that Ed and I need to clear up.' Winry thought to herself. Her conversation with Izumi after she first entered the Manor had given Winry a realization about how she'd been conducting the sessions with Edward. She would have to change directions if they were to make any progress.

'It's no wonder Edward has been so disruptive.' Winry thought as guilt punched at her stomach The blonde prided herself with her skills as a mechanic, yet in this case she had let her patient down. Sure Ed had been a real pain in the ass the last couple of days, but Winry couldn't blame him for it. If anything her determination and commitment to seeing the golden haired man back on his feet had only grown stronger because of all the resistance.

Winry checked her watch and saw that Edward should be on his way. "Okay, here we go."

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Central Hospital:**

Edward kept his head down as they wheeled him through the hallways of the hospital. There was hardly anyone going through them but he couldn't bear to see them looking down on him. He hated feeling little, always had from a young age. If you were small and surrounded by people bigger than you weren't in control. He'd had that mindset ever since he was a short little kid, who got picked on for his height. Edward could never stand not being in control, even as a child.

His chair was being pushed by Darius. He and Heinkel were watching over him during his transition to the Manor. Despite the shame of being seen leaving in his condition, it felt fan-fucking-tastic to be finally leaving this fucking place. Maybe at the manor, people would start treating him with respect again, instead of walking on eggshells.

'Or shoving this whole automail thing down my throat.' Ed thought as he was pushed into the elevator.

Rockbell was no doubt waiting for him to be delivered to the manor to start sticking and prodding him like some kind of mad scientist. He probably wasn't going to get five minutes to take a piss before she was off to the races.

'Can't blame her too much.' He thought blankly. 'She wants to get the hell out of this circus.'

Everything had been going so fast since he had first woken up in his bed. Twice a day it seemed like they were moving onto the 'next step' in the automail process. His father had been adamant about him getting back on his feet as soon as possible.

'Yeah, don't bother even asking me if I feel up to it.' Ed thought as the elevator came to a stop. 'Asshole.'

Darius pushed him through the lobby of the hospital with Heinkel walking close behind. Parked in front of the hospital was a black limo. Ed wasn't surprised to see Ling standing outside it. Ling waved to him as he came up.

"Ready to head home?" Ling asked.

"Yep." Ed said, looking wearily at the approaching door of the car. They were going to have to pick him up and place him into the seat of the car. Ed wanted to groan at the idea of that but kept his mouth shut as he came to a stop next to the car.

"Alright Boss, here we go." Darius said. "1...2...3."

Darius lifted Ed up from the chair. One arm under Ed's shoulders while he sat on the other. He was being being carried like a child. Ed just closed his eyes as Darius carefully maneuvered him into the leather seat of the limo. When he was finally in place, he opened his eyes. Ling had slid into the seat facing him. He had a excited look on his face.

"What?" Ed asked gruffly. He ran his only hand over his jaw feeling the slight stubble that had formed there.

"They got him." Ling said cheerfully.

"Who?"

"The guy who did this to you, they got him." Ling clarified with a grin.

It took a second or two for his friend's words to fully register with Edward. Even then, Ed stared at Ling for several long moments in silence as he digested the information. His mouth opened as if to speak but then snapped shut. Edward's forehead furrowed as he briefly glanced out the window and then looked back at Ling.

"Is he dead?" He asked in calm voice that Ed almost didn't recognize.

"Yep, the cops shot him up." Ling answered, noticing Edward's less then enthusiastic response.

"Who was he?" Ed asked, almost in a whisper.

"His name was Patrick Vincent. The fucker actually used to work at the Xerxes if you can believe it." Ling said with a bewildered, humorless chuckle. "Got fired a year ago and had some cancer in the brain."

"What does that have to do with me?" Ed asked quietly.

Ling chewed his upper lip as he thought of how to answer this. "I...I don't know." He said hesitantly, knowing the answer wouldn't satisfy Edward. He wished he could give Ed the answer that he wanted. That there was more to this then just a sick man with a misplaced vendetta.

As expected, Edward's already sullen demeanor seemed to deflate further. Quickly Ling tried to cheer his friend up. "The asshole was out of his mind. But hey, at least they got him. Too bad you couldn't pry his kneecaps off with a crowbar though."

Several moments passed in silence before Edward spoke. "Whatever." He shook his head, eyes now staring at the closest window.

It was strange, Edward thought. Learning the man who had attacked him was dead didn't leave the impact he thought it would. He'd had dreams of killing him, slowly. This no faced assassin. Ed had dreamed of beating him to a bloody pulp. Slowly cutting his limbs off with a bone saw. And then setting what was left of him on fire and then sitting back to watch the fucker burn.

Doing that might have made him feel better. However, even the thought of such sweet vengeance had barely brought any happiness to Edward during the last few days. The news of his attacker's death brought nothing to him. Not any relief or joy in the slightest. The cops had been the ones that got him in the end. Probably just a single shot to the head and it was over. Where was the satisfaction in that?

'Would it even have made a difference if I had been the one who did it?' Ed thought with a sigh.

He would still have been a cripple. His arm was still gone. His leg was still gone. The death of his attacker wouldn't bring them back.

Nothing would.

The drive back to the manor was sufficiently uncomfortable with every bump jouseling his still healing limbs. Plus that and Ling's misguided attempts at friendly small talk were starting to aggravate Edward further. At that moment all Ed wanted was silence so he could think, eventually Ling got the memo and ceased with his attempts. Once Ed got the silence he wanted, he couldn't find anything to think about. Finally, after what seemed like hours, they drove through the familiar gates of the Hohenheim manor and up the log driveway.

'Lets see who showed up to my homecoming.' Ed thought sarcastically as the limo came to a complete stop.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO.**

Ling and the others moved his stuff from the car into the manor. Edward himself was pushed into the house by Izumi who had been waiting for them in the driveway.

"How are you feeling today, Edward?" The older woman asked calmly as she pushed Ed up the ramp the had been set up on the front steps.

"Do I have to answer that?" He drawled as they entered the main hall.

"You will unless you want to end up on the floor." Izumi threatened, coming to a stop. Considering that she had once tossed a butcher knife at his head, Ed was inclined to believe her threat.

"Decent, I guess." He sighed.

Izumi nodded. "Are you tired?"

"Not really. When you're lying in a hospital all day, falling asleep isn't the hardest thing to do." Ed leaned back into the chair as the two of them started moving again.

"Good." Izumi grinned as they walked past the staircase that would lead up to Edward's bedroom. "Then you should be well rested enough to talk with Winry."

Ed groaned aggravatingly. "Fuck that shit. I'm taking a sick day"

"What are you planning on doing instead?" Izumi asked. "Sit in your room all day with the lights off and mope about your problems? Not on my watch, Edward."

Ed's grip on the wheelchair's handle tightened. He half considered throwing himself off the chair, but that would only hurt him and Izumi could easily pick his ass back up. With a defeated sigh Edward sat back and resigned himself to his fate. "No rest for the wicked." He mumbled.

Darius and Heinkel were waiting by the stairs that led down to the basement level of the manor. 'So that's where she's set up.' Edward thought as Izumi greeted the two men. 'How convenient for the guy in the wheelchair."

"Alright, you know what to do." She said, stepping away from Ed's chair. "Just be aware that if you drop him, I will break each of your arms."

"Yes ma'am." They said in unison. The two large bodyguards then got on either side of Edward and took ahold of his wheelchair. Ed gripped the armrest tightly with his remaining hand, cursing under his breath as the chair was lifted up. Izumi gave him a reassuring look as the two men began to carry both Edward and the chair down the stairs. It was an awkward and painfully long process. Several times Ed thought he was going to fall off of the chair and his grip was leaving sharp indents on the armrest. Heinkel and Darius quietly apologized whenever there was a bump, but mostly they stayed focused on getting him to the bottom. Finally the trio touched down on the basement floor.

'Next time I'm taking the dumbwaiter.' Edward thought as the wheelchair was placed once again on the ground. "Thanks for the lift, boys." He drawled sarcastically. They left and he turned to look at the basement.

Ed would give Rockbell some credit, she'd done a pretty damn good job at converting the place into an automail workshop. The basement was also more well lit then he remembered, they must have installed a few more lights. And standing in the middle of the room was Winry herself. She was dressed in her automail jumpsuit from the shop, and seemed to be in a pretty good mood.

"Hello Edward." She greeted, walking towards him with her arms folded. "It's great to see you out of the hospital."

"It's great _to_ _be_ out of the hospital." Ed drawled. "Which is why I was hoping to rest before we had to do one of these kumbaya sessions. So now that you have me here, what now?"

"That depends." Winry leaned back on the table, putting her weight on her elbows. "What do you want to do?"

Edward's disinterested demeanor faltered. He blinked twice, as if Winry had spoken in a foreign language. "What?"

Winry smiled sadly at him. "I'm sorry Edward, I am afraid that I've been treating you unfairly this last week."

Ed's confusion morphed slightly to curiosity. "Care to be more specific, Doc?"

Winry chuckled inwardly at his snarky remark. His tone wasn't the irritated anger which she had heard from him many times over the last few days. It reminded her of pre-accident Edward. "I'll be honest with you, Edward. I haven't been giving you the services that you deserve."

Upon seeing him arch an eyebrow, Winry continued. "One day I'm just a normal mechanic, the next I'm signing a contract with gangsters and have to drop everything to come stay at this manor. Your father was very firm that you be back on your feet as soon as possible. I was so focused on pleasing your father and getting settled that I didn't stop to think about what you wanted."

"And what _do_ I want?" Edward asked.

"You tell me." Winry responded. "Every automail patient I've had in the past has always come to me for help. It was their choice. But you didn't, that choice was made for you. And ever since then I've been making all of the choices for you too. You didn't give me consent to take your measurements. You never asked for me make those impressions of your right arm and left leg. During our sessions at the hospital you almost never said anything. You just laid there not talking."

Upon seeing him frown and open his mouth, Winry quickly kept talking. She had gotten some momentum and didn't want to lose it. "I'm not criticizing your behavior, in fact I understand it. Everything was moving too fast and you felt like you had no control over any of it. I'm going to guess that control is something that is important to you?"

It was hard for Winry to admit this, every word made the guilt inside of her grow. "What I'm trying to say is that I'm sorry Edward. I tried to accelerate this process in order to fulfill your Father's request. From now on we'll move at your pace and I won't force you to do anything that you're not ready for."

Winry had thought about this long and hard over the last few hours. Control was something that a person like Edward valued highly. Ever since the accident he had lost all control over his life. He had woken up to find his limbs missing and a mechanic already assigned to him. Ed hadn't been present for the contract signing where Greed had laid out Van's preferred timeline for Edward's treatment. Since he woke up, Ed hadn't been able to make a choice for himself. The only way he could feel like he had some small semblance of control over the situation was to be disruptive and uncooperative.

Edward, for his part, was silent. For several moments he sat as still as a statue, no doubt trying to decipher her words for any possible ill intent. After a while it seemed like he hadn't found any.

"When you put it like that doc, I seem like a pretty sympathetic guy." Ed muttered. His hand was tapping the side of the chair.

"Well you're in a pretty sympathetic situation so…" Winry trailed off with a shrug.

"So you're saying that I get final say on what we do from now on?" Ed asked, his voice sounding a little skeptical.

"Yes I am." Winry replied.

"What if I told you to move out and never come back?" Edward said with a raised eyebrow.

"Well, I guess I'd have to do that then. I hope that's not what you want." Winry sighed. "Besides I don't think your father or that damn lawyer would let that happen though."

Ed let out a humorous chuckle. "Guess we're both hostages in this situation."

"I've actually been planning an escape." Winry gave him a small smile. "Want to help me with the tunnel I've been secretly digging?"

"Not sure how useful I'd be." Ed said, flexing his stumps.

"You're not useless, Edward." Winry said. "Those injuries didn't make you any less human."

Ed nodded slowly. "So now what?" He motioned to the automail equipment all around them.

"That depends, Edward." Winry pushed herself off the table and walked closer to him. "What do you want?" She was now crouching in front of the wheelchair, blue azure eyes staring into golden amber.

Her proximity through him off. "What do mean?" He asked while shifting uncomfortably in the chair.

She looked him straight in the eye, each word spoken softly and patiently. "I'm asking what you want to do. Not your father, aunt, or anyone else. You."

Edward found himself unable to look away, despite how much he wanted to. There was something about Winry's gaze that made him frozen to the spot. Ed could feel it starting to break through the walls that he had tried to place between the two of them.

'Jesus, what is she doing to me.' It was like he under a spotlight and there were no dark corners for him to hide in.

"I…" Ed's voice was quiet and weak. He quickly closed his mouth as indecision seemed to cloud his features. For a few seconds he again shifted uncomfortably under her gaze as an internal debate seemed to occur inside of him. Winry waited patiently for him to be ready.

"I…" Edward began again, his voice wavering slightly. "I guess that I…want to walk again."

"Why do you want to walk again?"

The question caught him off guard. Ed looked at Winry like she had two heads. He gave her a angry scowl in response. "What kind of damn question is that?"

"It's one that you haven't asked yourself yet." Winry responded. "So tell me Ed, why do you want to walk again?"

Ed chewed his lower lip. He thought back to earlier, hearing about the death of his attacker. "Because…it's not fair." He didn't have to tell her what _it_ was. Many things had been taken from him that night, not just his limbs. That night had limited what he could do and even his ability to go where he wanted. It had taken his control and his strength, turning Edward into a what he'd never been before.

A victim.

Winry smiled at him. "I know. Now…will you let me help you?" She said softly. Neither of them had broken eye contact this entire time. Looking at Edward, Winry could see a myriad of emotions playing out on his face. There was slight relief, like a weight was finally being lifted off of his chest. But at the same time Winry also noticed defensiveness and pride trying to combat it. There were a few moments of silence before Edward frowned. Winry could tell by the furrow of his brow that there was something on his mind. She waited patiently for him to continue speaking.

"So...uh….automail." Ed began before clearing his throat. His fingers rapped against the chair. "Um…talk to me about that a little. What….what is it like to live with?" He seemed awkward, as if embarrassed by his previous behavior. Winry found the sight to be oddly cute.

'Edward Elric acting cute.' She thought with a small smile. 'What is this world coming to?'

"It's not easy." Winry admitted honestly. "There's a lot of work that you have to do before and after surgery."

"Like...what?" He asked. Despite all of their meetings at the hospital he had never once tried to talk to her about this.

Winry allowed a small smile on her face. Technically she had already gone over this with him at the hospital. But that didn't matter now because they were starting to have a real conversation about the process and that's exactly what she wanted to do.

"Well I can tell you what we were supposed to do today." Winry leaned back in her chair. Ed looked at her waiting for her to go on. She was happy that she had his attention.

"Well today was supposed to be the start of the physical therapy sessions." Winry said. "I was going to introduce you to the exercises that you'll need to do to strengthen your body for the automail."

"Exercises?" Ed asked with a tiny scowl. It reminded Winry of a student being assigned extra homework, the amusing comparison made her chuckle.

"Abdominal workouts mostly. Building the upper back muscles too." Winry elaborated. "You'll need to build up some strength before I put the ports in."

"When's that going to happen?" Ed asked.

"When you're ready for them." Winry said. "I'm supposed to spend the first half of the day getting your body ready and the second half working more on the construction."

"Sounds busy." Ed said.

"It will be." Winry admitted. "But even if I finished the ports tomorrow I won't have the surgery done until you're ready….physically and mentally."

"So no exercising today?" Ed asked.

"Nope." Winry replied.

"Then what are we gonna do?"

Winry smiled and walked over to one of the tables that Ed hadn't noticed. On it were two cups with light steam coming out of them. Winry picked them up and walked back over to Edward who was watching her curiously.

"If I recall, when we talked on the phone several weeks ago you started to ask me if I could get coffee with you again." She said with a smile before placing one cup on the armrest of Ed's wheelchair. Winry sat down on a chair facing him and took a sip from her own cup. Edward slowly picked up his drink, carefully due to his one hand, and held it in his lap. For a few moments the two of them sat there in silence drinking their coffee before Edward started to chuckle. That chuckling slowly turned into real laughter. He didn't know why exactly, but something about this whole setup was humorous.

Across from him, Winry smiled as she watched Edward laugh for the first time in who knows how long. Suddenly he seemed to be years younger, color and youthfulness seemed to bleed back onto his features.

"What's so funny?" She asked cheerfully.

Edward took another drink from the coffee and shrugged. "I don't know. Just felt like laughing I guess."

"There's nothing wrong with that." Winry said with a small grin.

"Yeah." Ed said thoughtfully before looking down at his drink. "Though it is a little funny that you remember exactly what kind of coffee I like." It was his turn to grin. "Did you remember, or did you go down to the coffee shop and ask?"

"I remembered." Winry found her face to be blushing, although she didn't quite know why.

Ed raised a curious eyebrow when he saw her slightly flushed face. 'Damn, I forgot how cute she looked when she did that.' Edward thought with a chuckle as he remembered their previous interactions in his office and at the shop.

"Listen Edward." Winry began, placing her coffee down and leaning forward towards him. "I truly am sorry if I've made this process harder than it needed to be. I know I can only come up with excuses but…"

"It's okay!" Ed found himself blurting out. When she looked at him with mild surprise, he found himself shifting uncomfortably in the wheelchair under her gaze. It was strange. Two days ago he hated whenever she looked at him, yet now it was not anger that he felt.

"I uh…" Edward trailed off, the fingers of his left hand started to unconsciously tap the armrest. "I probably wasn't making it easy for you, I mean."

Winry found herself smiling. It was small, yet thankful. No doubt it had been difficult for Edward to admit that. "So what do you say Ed, want to make a fresh start?" She held out her hand for him to shake.

Edward looked at her outreached hand contemplatively for a few moments. He marveled over how despite all of his attempts to push her away, Winry had refused to give up. She had broken through his misplaced defenses and was now extending him the lifeline that Edward desperately needed, no matter how much he'd tried to protest.

His emotions threatened to choke him in that moment and Edward had to steel himself from letting him lose too much control of them. Instead he looked Winry in the eye, gave her a genuine smile, and accepted her hand. As soon as their skin touched, it felt like an electrical shock went up Ed's arm. It was sudden but not in any way unpleasant. Her hand was surprisingly soft for a mechanic and Edward had to suppress the urge to run his thumb over her smooth skin.

"Sounds good to me."

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Central Hospital:**

The hospital was quieter than Riza had been expecting. She noted this as she walked through the front doors into the lobby. Edward Elric has moved out not an hour earlier. That could be what explained it.

'Roy got shot because of him.' Riza thought. "Elric gets to go home while Roy's fighting for his life. I bet Elric doesn't even know his name.'

It had been almost a day since Riza had last seen Roy. She'd wanted to come sooner.

But that would have been too obvious. If she had waited at the door of the surgery room as she had wanted to, it would have told the world everything it needed to know about their relationship. Also the station would have demanded she explain how a police captain had been shot on active duty. So Riza had reluctantly gone straight back to precinct and written a report about how Captain Roy Mustang had gotten injured by the suspect. Detectives Breda and Havoc had been the ones who had accompanied Roy to the Hospital and had updated her hourly on what was happening with him. The damn report had taken longer than Riza had expected. The memory of what happened kept replaying in her mind.

Seeing the sun reflecting off the barrel of the suspect's gun, hearing the gunshot, seeing Roy fall. Those images were on a constant replay through Riza's mind, taunting her. She had always been a quick draw, the fastest in her class. Yet she had failed. Not only had she allowed Roy to be shot, but now their suspect was dead. Roy's wish of bringing him in alive was gone. Riza had been on complete autopilot when she pulled her own gun out and shot Vincent dead. It had been pure instinct.

It had taken fifteen chaotic minutes for the ambulance to arrive after the shooting. Riza had done her best to stop the bleeding, but her hands had been shaking so much it was difficult. The tears that had flowed endlessly from her eyes hadn't helped either. Watching Roy get shot in front of her hurt like someone had ripped her own heart out.

When Riza got back to the precinct she had been a walking ghost, barely able to say more than three words. Thankfully Vato, Alex, and Kain were there to make sure no one bothered her while she worked on the necessary paperwork. When it was done she knew that the smart thing to do was wait a little bit longer. Allow his relatives time to arrive and sit themselves down. In the meantime, her coworkers had tried to cheer her up by saying that it would take more than a bullet to stop Roy Mustang. They did this to the point where Riza became suspicious. Maybe they knew of the secret relationship between the Captain and his Sargent.

'Don't worry about that now.' Riza thought determinedly, trying to banish all distracting thoughts. After waiting an appropriate amount of time, she was finally arrived at the hospital. Riza did not know what she was going to learn when she was in front of Roy's room. She was still wearing her detective suit, it was wrinkled but she didn't care. Her face was professional as she followed the nurse's directions to Roy Mustang's room. Exhaustion was no doubt visible on her face as Riza had gotten no rest after staying . The scene had plagued her, replaying over and over again. Not only was the anguish crushing Riza but also the guilt of not protecting the man she loved. She didn't know his condition but she couldn't let that get to her. It wouldn't do Roy any good for her to turn into a mess.

When Riza finally exited the elevator she was surprised to see her grandfather, Mayor William Grumman, sitting in a chair down the hallway. Next to him was a old, slightly large woman who Riza instantly recognized as Roy's adoptive mother, Christine Mustang. Upon hearing the elevator ding, Chris looked up and saw Riza standing there.

"Hello Riza." The older woman greeted with a tired half smile. She stood up from her seat and held out her hand. Grumman's head whipped around upon hearing his granddaughter's name.

"Chris." Riza responded as she shook Chris' hand, guilt flooding her again. "I…I'm sorry. Roy is my superior and I should never have allowed-"

"Oh enough of that crap." Chris quickly cut her off with a wave of her hand. "It ain't your fault my reckless idiot of a son got himself shot. To be honest I'm surprised it took this long." Her voice was strong, but there was a small amount of humor. For a brief moment her tired eyes seemed to light up, but they died down after a few moments. Despite her words, Riza could see that Chris was very much concerned about Roy.

"Riza."

Grumman stood up as quick as his mild arthritis would allow him and made his way over to them. "How are you doing?"

Riza allowed her shoulders to sag. "I'm tired." She said.

Grumman put a hand on his granddaughter's shoulder and led her to the chairs. "You certainly look it. I'm going to guess that you didn't get any sleep last night."

"You'd be correct." Riza sighed as she sat down. Glancing to the side she noticed her grandfather's bodyguards were trying to be inconspicuous a little down the hallway.

Grumman nodded, sitting down next to her. "I suppose this is the part where I'm supposed to tell you it's not your fault, and that you should take it easy."

The humor in his voice got the ghost of a smile from Riza. "You said the same thing to Dad once. After his partner got shot."

Grumman gave a mock frown and gripped his chin thoughtfully. "Did I? I don't recall. Perhaps my memory is starting to fail me."

Riza gave a small laugh as a few tears leaked out of her eyes. "I'm pretty sure you'll outlive us all." She held out her hand and Grumman took it.

"Come here." He whispered before pulling her into a hug. Riza responded weakly. She recalled that Grumman had held her in such a manner when her father had died.

'Am I going to lose Roy too?'

"He's going to be fine." Grumman said, as if answering her thoughts. "How many years have you known him? Long time. He's a fighter, always has been."

Riza nodded and Grumman pulled back. "You sit tight, little hawk. I need to make a call. Give Mrs. Mustang some company."

With that, the elderly mayor stood up and walked down the hallway towards his bodyguards. When he came up to them, one of them opened the door to an empty room. Grumman walked into the room and fished out a phone. He turned it on and dialed the only contact on it. It rang a few times before it was picked up.

"How can I help you, Mr. Mayor?"

Grumman didn't think he'd ever get use to the man's unnervingly calm voice.

"You can start by telling me what the hell happened with Vincent?" Grumman's tone almost turned into a growl. "No one else was supposed to get injured."

"You're right, no one was supposed to." The other man answered matter-of-factly.

Grumman looked behind him to make sure that the doors were closed. "Then please explain to me, Kimblee, why Captain Roy Mustang is fighting for his life at Central Hospital?"

There was a pause before the mysterious man known only by the name Solf J. Kimblee spoke. "You're quite fond of Roy Mustang are you." It was a statement, not a question. "Is it due to his closeness to your granddaughter, or do you see him as a replacement for the son that you lost?"

Grumman's grip on the phone tightened. "That's none of your damn business." He bit out harshly.

Kimblee laughed. It was dark and unnatural sounding. "Everything in this city is my business. If I recall, that is the job you gave me."

"Your _job_ is to rid this city of the Hohenheim family, yet all that you've managed to do is put one of them in the hospital and get a decorated police captain shot!" Grumman's frustration exploded.

Once again there was a pause on the other end of the phone. But this one felt more calculated, more sinister. "I would watch the manner in which you speak to me, Mr. Mayor. I am not a man who takes kindly to being offended. Remember that it was you who came to me, not the other way around. Your money and resources have been valuable, but they are not completely necessary. And neither are you."

Grumman's eyes narrowed. "Are you threatening me, boy-"

"No doubt your constituents would be shocked to discover that you have entered into an alliance with a unsavory character like myself. I wonder how your granddaughter would react to such a revelation."

Grumman let out an angry breath. 'Another smug asshole.' He thought bitterly. 'No matter what I do I always run into these people.'

"Let's not get ahead of ourselves, Solf." Grumman said after regaining his composure. "But I don't want any more fuckups like this, got it?"

"Fuck ups are a rather common occurrence in life." Kimblee chuckled. "I'm sure a few more will occur before this is all over. But won't it all be worth it in the end?"

Grumman sighed as he contemplated the significance of Kimblee's words.

"You're taking your city back, Mr. Mayor." Kimblee's chilling voice rang through the phone. "Just sit back and let it happen."

Grumman couldn't help the small smirk that played onto his lips. He shook his head. "Just no more fuck ups, you hear me!"

"Loud and clear, sir." Kimblee nodded on his end. "Will that be all?"

"For now." Grumman said before hanging up.

In a warehouse on the other end of the city, Kimblee lowered the phone from his ear.

'Old fool. Only a moron gives up the crown after he's won it.' Kimblee thought as he pocketed his phone. So far Grumman had been useful with getting him to the stage that he was now at, but soon he would outgrow the old man. Until then, he would have to keep the mayor happy. Kimblee straightened his tie and turned to the door that he had exited through upon receiving the call. He had been in the middle of another important meeting but had to walk out for privacy. While he had revealed Lyra to Yoki and Tucker, that information was to stay between the two of them. He did not want that to get out and most certainly did not want information about the mayor being known. William Grumman was a weak man and would quickly turn over the second Van Hohenheim put his attention on him. Kimblee shook his head before pushing his way through the door and sat down in front of the occupant's desk.

"Terribly sorry about that, Mr. Archer." Kimblee spoke to the man sitting across from him. "But it was an important, if inconvenient, call."

"No problem." Frank Archer said with slightly sceptical eyes.

"Now where were we?" Kimblee asked as he sat down in front of them man. "Ah, we were right at the part where you decide that our interests are aligned."

Archer nodded as he considered these words. "So you want me to join you against the Hohenheims?"

"Yoki said you might be inclined." Kimblee said, before tilting his head to the side. "So are you?"

Archer stared at the man in front of him for several moments. After a while, he gave Kimblee a nod.

"Yes."

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 **I hope you enjoyed.**

 **Please Review!**


	21. Chapter 21

**VKLOREO23** : Thank you, I'll try to have the next chapter out as soon as possible.

 **Bloodynessie** : It was time for Ed to stop moping around and get back on his feet. I'm glad you enjoyed their scene.

 **Noseinabook145** : They might be able to enjoy a few other things, but some things will eventually start going to hell.

 **Mother Of The Universe** : I do really like writing plot twists, there will be quite few more before this story is over. It's funny that you mention Alphonse, because originally he was supposed to have a scene in this chapter. But I couldn't find a place to work it in with the rest of the scenes. That's one of the issues of writing a story with such a big cast, trying to give everyone equal 'screen time'. Don't worry, Al will be in the next chapter. As for Bradley, I don't think I will use him for this story. There's already enough villains and characters to keep track of.

 **ninelanterns** : Grumman's character was always a bit shady in Brotherhood. I wanted there to be a lot of moral grayness in this story. On the one hand, you can excuse Grumman for wanting to get rid of the Hohenheims. But working with someone such as Kimblee could be even worse. As for Ed and Winry, she just needed time to break through his stubbornness.

 **Frankensnow** : It's alright if you miss a few chapters I understand. Usually in the time its taken me to get this chapter out, I would have uploaded three or four. I'll try to get the next ones out sooner. The story in the next few chapters will start to focus more on the growing relationship between Ed and Winry, but we'll still see what's going on in other parts of the city.

 **Poudinha** : I'm glad that their relationship is coming across as realistic. Since this was a slow burn, I wanted their growth to feel genuine.

 **Criis55** : Sorry, as the gap between this and the last chapter have shown I don't really have a schedule for updates. I try to get each chapter out as soon as I can though. My goal is to upload one or two chapters a month, but recently I've been distracted. Thank you for your compliments, they're really appreciated. I do proofread my chapters, but there are always a few mistakes that I inevitably miss. Good news, Envy is in this chapter.

 **Bleached Socks** : Kimblee isn't working for the police, per se. He's working with Mayor Grumman and even then, we're not really sure who's in charge. The challenge of writing AUs is that Ed and Winry usually start off not knowing each other and have they have to build a relationship. Thank you for appreciating this.

 **SleepinBeautyK** : After all of the stress and arguing between the two of them, it was nice to write a pleasent scene between them. Though the baby making process might take some more time.

 **BakaFangirl** : Thank you! I've missed your reviews.

 **GothPanther** : Sorry, I can't promise that no one is going to die. I agree with the Shou Tucker comment, though. I think this version of him is the most despicable character I've ever written. He doesn't get any better this chapter.

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"So what do you two think of this Kimblee guy?"

Yoki glanced up from his cards at the question. There was a slight nervousness just barely visible in the smaller man's eyes. He looked between Frank Archer, who had just spoken, and Shou Tucker who was holding a solid poker face from across the table.

They were currently in the back room of one of Tucker's establishments as they played their weekly card game. Scantily clad men and women were serving them food and drinks, the former making Yoki squirm uncontrollably. There was also the occasional traffic of employees who had just come off the workroom. They came in various forms of undress and physical conditions.

"Is it safe to be talking about all that so freely?" Yoki whispered looking at the staff members. "You never know who you can trust in this town."

"Are you afraid Kimblee's going to leap from beneath the table like some boogeyman." Tucker drawled, not taking his eyes off the cards.

"He warned us about not getting anything out." Yoki said sheepishly as he adjusted his cards in his hands.

"Oh they won't say a thing." Tucker said looking proudly at the staff members. "Let me show you, Bella!"

A red haired woman, who had just stumbled in from the front of the building, turned towards them. Yoki and Archer had to stop to take in her appearance. She had a black eye and various other bruises scattered around her body. She was cradling her hand which looked to have been recently burnt. Her head snapped robotically towards Tucker's direction at the calling of her name. Like an obedient dog, she shuffled over and stood in front of the table.

"Yes sir?" She asked in a monotone voice. Fresh droplets of blood escaped her mouth as she spoke.

"Kindly inform these gentlemen about what just happened to you." Tucker told her.

The woman turned her head to look at Archer and Yoki. The movement was almost mechanical. Archer was a bit taken aback by the lifeless look in her eyes.

"Nothing at all." She said.

"Good girl." Tucker nodded. "Now go get cleaned up, you're needed for tonight's later events."

"Yes sir." She shuffled away.

"See." Tucker said turning back to his guests. "We don't have to worry, my merchandise are well trained." He looked at Archer. "Now to answer your question. I'll admit I came away with a good impression. And as we can see here, dear Yoki is a bit intimidated by him."

Yoki huffed, but didn't deny it.

"What say you, Franklin?" Tucker asked.

"We'll see if he delivers." Archer said. "Do you think he can do it? Really bring down Van?"

"Maybe." Tucker said.

"He's well connected." Yoki said as he picked up some new cards. "Did he tell you that-" Yoki's speech was cut off when he felt a pointed edge dig into his leg. He looked down to see the pen that Tucker had abruptly jammed into his thigh. Loki glanced up at his friend who gave him a look that said 'shut up'.

"What the hell's wrong with you?" Frank looked over at Yoki with a confused frown.

"I...uh….nothing." Yoki shifted his cards to try and draw Archer's attention back to them. Maybe he could pass that off as him being excited about new cards.

Frank narrowed his eyes, but didn't say anything.

Thirty minutes later, the rest of the game finished up and Archer had departed. After their companion had departed Yoki turned to look at Tucker questiongly.

"Why didn't you want me to tell him that Kimblee has Lyra Rial working for him?" Yoki asked.

"I want to see what he does first." Tucker responded as he watched Archer drive away.

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 **The Hohenheim Manor:**

"Come on Eddy, just a little bit more. You're about to beat a world record." Envy chuckled.

"You're an asshole." Ed grunted, his body starting to strain as he pushed himself up one more time before collapsing onto the mat below him.

"Oohhh, he trips at the finish line. His career is over! Now we shall watch as he descends into a life of depression and alcohol abuse." Envy grinned as he looked down at his exhausted brother.

Ed turned his head to glare at the spiky haired Hohenheim. "Why the hell were you only one available?"

"Because little Al is busy with work, Ling is taking Lan Fan on a date, and I'm here because I love you." Envy sat down on the workout mat. He had tossed his leather jacket to the side in favor of just wearing his leather pants, spiked boots, and skulled t-shirt. He'd been sporting a grin the whole time

Ed sucked in a breath, the grey shirt he was wearing was almost black with sweat stains. For the last hour he had been conducting the workouts that Winry had assigned him. It had been about a week since Edward returned to the Hohenheim manor and Winry had finally gotten him to stop acting like a bitch. Since then, Ed had followed her advice with daily exercises that strengthened his abdominal and back muscles. At first he did this therapy with Winry, but recently he had tried doing it outside of their sessions. These workouts included push ups, planking, and sit ups among others. Now these activities were quite difficult with only one arm and a leg, but they had found a way to do it without killing Ed. Winry had decided that there needed to be someone supervising Edward at all times in case he was hurt or needed help. Due to convenience, and other reasons, Envy had been the one to join him today. The two siblings had each apologized for the incident in the hospital room and were back in good graces.

Envy watched his tired brother pant on the mat for a few moments before grabbing a nearby water bottle, opening it, and handing it to Ed. "Thanks." Edward muttered as he grabbed the bottle and began chugging it.

"Sooo….that was about 34 sit ups. Not bad brother." Envy patted him on the shoulder.

"Can't keep me down." Ed chuckled. "Next time I'll get to 50."

Envy smiled at those words. Not a grin or a smirk, but a genuine smile. Although he wouldn't say it outloud, Envy was overjoyed to see Edward acting like this. Whatever his mechanic had done to him, possibly magic blowjobs, had worked. Ed was no longer moping around like a sack of depressed potatoes, instead he seemed actively interested in getting better. His old competitive nature and ego had also reemerged. Take today's workout for example; Ed had wanted to get over 30 sit ups just to prove that he could do it. If he was a lesser man, Envy might have started crying and given Rockbell a hug.

"Still, I think that's enough for today." Envy suggested. Ed looked at his brother with a raised eyebrow.

"Look at you, being responsible and telling someone to take it easy." Edward laughed. "I think you might become a mature adult yet."

"Oh, I only act like a child around you." Envy said before his face morphed into a smirk. "But when I'm with Solaris, I act very adult."

"Pass me a barf bag will you." Ed muttered with fake disgust.

Envy chuckled before glancing at Edward's stumps. "Do they hurt?"

"They sting a bit." Ed confessed. "But it's nothing I can't handle."

"That's the Ed I know." Envy said before a sly look cane over his face. "Speaking about the old you, have you restarted your women wooing ways?"

"My what?"

"You know; your libido, sex drive, primal instincts. Come on, I'm running out of synonyms." Envy nudged him. "Last time I checked you were missing an arm and a leg, not a dick."

Ed sighed, remembering fondly the times he could simply walk away from such conversations. "Why do our talks always seem to devolve to you talking about sex?"

"I don't know. You tell me." Envy raised his eyebrows. "So what's it like having a hot-as-hell babe for a mechanic?"

Ed has to resist the urge to facepalm, not liking where this was going. "I'm not sure if that's any if your business Envy." He kept his tone friendly as he pushed himself into a sitting position.

Envy sat cross legged. "Come on, I need details. Have she seen you naked yet, or have you seen her naked yet? Does she wear revealing clothes? The two of you spend several hours a day all alone in the basement. Some people start wonder if automail is the only thing being done down there."

Ed groaned. This was just Envy's depraved curiosity trying to get him to admit to something. "I'm not playing this game with you."

"Come on, don't tell me that you haven't thought about it." Envy said. "You sure thought about it before she became your mechanic."

Ed looked away from his brother. "I think I missed my chance on that." He sighed. Memories from the night of the accident had slowly come back to him over the last several weeks, more specifically the moments leading up to crash. He had been thinking of Winry in those moments. How he had enjoyed their conversations, how he had enjoyed being around her.

' _When I'm around her, I don't need to be Van Hohenheim's son. I can just be me.'_

Although they had only just met, Ed had found himself drawn to the blonde mechanic. He hadn't even been very shy about it, if his memory served him correctly.

'I did flirt with her pretty heavily at the office and then in the coffee shop.' Ed thought with a chuckle, remembering how he had made her blush multiple times during their interactions. Her flushed face had made her already pretty features look even cuter. 'And if I recall, she did flirt back.' Ed counldn't deny that in those two encounters, and the phone call after, a connection had been forged between them. Unfortunately it had been interrupted by a crazy cancer patient with a misguided revenge plan driving an SUV.

"Who says you missed anything. Why, because she's your mechanic it'd be weird to fuck her?" Envy asked crudely.

"Well that, and also…" Ed trailed off as he motioned to his stumps. "Most women I knew tend to like men who who are all there."

Envy frowned at his brother's comments. But since emotional comfort wasn't his fortay, he decided to go for a different approach. "Hey Ed, think of it this way. You can just sit back and let that sexy blonde fox do all the work."

Edward gave him a deadpan look. Envy's descriptions if Winry were really starting to irritate him. "Is there a point to all this?"

Envy raised an eyebrow before smiling. "Alright, I was just wondering if there anything between you two." He raised his hands in surrender.

"There isn't." His response was almost instant.

'Sure, sure." Envy replied before smirking deviously. "Although I did mention to her that you may have had a itty bitty crush on her."

"You what?" Edward's eyes widened. "When the fuck did you do that?"

"It was the day when she moved in." Envy said nonchalantly.

Ed stared at his brother with a look that was a mixture between exasperated and murderous. But before he could figure out how to kill his brother with only one arm, a thought did hit him though.

'Is that where the whole, 'I'm going to be all nice and move at your pace' turnabout come from?' Edward pondered curiously as he thought back to their interaction over the last few days. Winry had been nothing but professional and kind towards him, which made sense since she was a automail mechanic. 'Don't read to much into it Elric, your damn life is complicated enough.' He thought with a shake of his head.

"Just help me up, will you." Ed grumbled, holding out his hand.

Envy grasped Edward, and with a tug, pulled him to his feet. Like a pillar being lifted by ropes, Ed straightened into place with his brother steadying him. Edward winced as a familiar pain shot through his body at standing on one leg. Wrapping his left arm around Envy's shoulders, the two siblings made their way towards Ed's chair. Winry had strictly warned Ed that if he tried hopping around by himself she'd brain him with a wrench so they gave gave him the chair to use. Edward begrudgingly agreed to it, but did prefer moving around on crutches despite how it tired him out eventually.

"Your seat, milord." Envy chuckled as he helped Ed into the wheelchair.

"Hmphff." Ed huffed as he was once again sat on the damned chair. 'Can't wait to be out of this thing.'

"Can you bring me to the kitchen. I'm starving here." Ed asked his meddlesome brother.

"Sure thing, Eddy." Envy began to push him. A few moments past in silence before Ed's curiosity got the better of him.

"How did she react when you said that?" Edward cringed at how the question sounded. Like he was some nervous middle schooler asking about a crush.

He could practically feel Envy's grin. "I think she blushed like a virgin on her wedding night. It was more 'deer in a headlights' look, probably because I was waving a katana around. Can you believe someone actually cleaned it?"

"You're an absolute trainwreck of human being, you know that." Ed facepalmed.

"I think trainwrecks are cool." Envy quipped back.

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 **Central General Hospital:**

"Please ladies and gentlemen, the Captain is resting and can't be disturbed at this time." Hawkeye did her best to keep a calm and professional voice, despite how much she wanted to snap at the people in front of her.

Her and Vato were currently trying to disperse the small crowd of reporters that were down the hallway from Roy's hospital room. The attack on Edward Hohenheim had been the biggest news story in the last year, so the death of the suspect and shooting of a highly regarded police captain were just the latest bit of juicy developments.

"Excuse me, Lieutenant." One man near the back waved to catch her attention. "What do you say to our readers who think that Patrick Vincent was framed through false evidence that you planted?"

'The hell?' Riza scowled and was about to respond when two dark haired women suddenly stepped around the small crowd.

"Alright, everyone." A short haired officer spoke loudly enough for everyone to hear. It took Riza a second to recognize her as officer Maria Ross. "We need all of you to move back to the lobby, you're clogging up the hallway and the staff here needs to do their jobs."

The other woman Riza knew instantly. She had longer hair and was dressed casually with a blue turtleneck and black trousers. "Hey guys, I know we all want the next big headlines but let's not get anyone killed." Rebecca Catalina, investigative journalist for the Central Times, smirked towards her fellow reporters.

There were some hesitant and disappointed grumbles from among the journalists, but they begrudgingly allowed Ross to heard them out of the hallway. Maria turned around and gave Riza a wink to which the Lieutenant responded with a grateful smile. Rebecca moved as if to follow them, but then stopped as soon as everyone was out of view. Quickly the chuckling woman made her way back towards Riza.

"Looks like you owe me…again Riza." Rebecca smirked, placing her hands on her hips. Vato stepped away to give the two women a little privacy.

"I can handle a few reporters, Becca." Hawkeye responded to her with an arched eyebrow.

"Yeah…" Rebecca said slyly with a smile. "But that last guy seemed to get under your skin."

Riza groaned, placing a hand on her forehead. "Who was that dipshit?"

"Oh just another dumbass bloodsucker from those magazines who think that all liberals are secretly lizard people or that climate change is just a scheme by Xing." Rebecca shrugged and leaned back against the hallway wall.

There was a brief moment of silence before the two of them spoke more casually and honestly. "So how's Roy doing?" Becca asked, genuinely.

Riza let out a sigh. "He's recovering."

Rebecca laughed. "I doubt anything could keep that man down, well except for you." She nudged Hawkeye's shoulder suggestively.

"Rebecca." Riza warned with narrowed eyes.

"I'm just kidding." Rebecca laughed before her features softened. "But in all seriousness, how are _you_ holding up?"

Riza was quiet for a moment. "It wasn't the first time I've shot a man."

"Yeah I remember that one." The journalist replied. "I'm surprised they didn't kick you out of the academy for that."

"So am I." She shrugged. "They did kick you out though."

"Hey!" Rebecca replied with mock offense. "I wasn't expelled, I left willingly. It's not my fault if those old men don't like the truth."

Riza looked at her former roommate before chuckling. "Still the same old Rebecca I see."

"I find personal change overrated." She shrugged before glancing at a nearby clock. "As much as I'd love to stay and have more girl talk, I have to vamoose." Rebecca then smirked evilly. "But in return for helping to chase off those snobs earlier, you owe me a statement."

"No."

"Come on, do it for an old friend." The dark haired woman pleaded.

"Fine, but not now."

"That's alright, I know where to find you." Rebecca replied simply. "Tell Roy that Becca says hi." With that, the brunette turned and made her way towards the elevator.

"How come you don't act that friendly around me?" Vato asked with a raised eyebrow as he stepped next to the lieutenant. Riza's responding glare made him back off.

"Soo…" Vato began, looking around the mostly empty hallway. "Now that it's less crowded out here, do you think one of us should go see how the Captain's doing?"

Falman's question caught her off guard slightly. By one of them, she knew he meant her. "Are you sure?" Riza gave one last look to Vato who nodded that he would be ok. Riza nodded back and turned around to head to Roy's room.

Despite being technically off duty, she still wore her usual work suit. Riza cast one last look down the hall before entering her Captain's room.

"Sounded busy out there. What was your excuse?" Roy Mustang glanced up from the files on his lap to look at the blonde lieutenant.

"Falman said I should check on you, see if you're resting." Hawkeye arched an eyebrow at the papers strewn about his hospital bed. "I can see that you're not."

"Hey, just because I'm not at the office doesn't mean that I still can't get work done." Roy shrugged.

Riza tried to not let the surprise show on her face. Roy usually despised paperwork, so it was quite shocking to see him currently going through several stacks. For a few long moments Riza stayed by the door, unsure if she should disturb him or not. Finally Roy lifted his head to look at her once again.

"Well don't just stand there, Lieutenant. Come over here." Roy closed the file on his lap and lifted it onto a side table next to the bed.

Riza crossed the room, moving to sit in the chair by the bed. However it seemed that Roy had other ideas as he moved more papers out of the way. He then patted the side of the bed next to him. Rita sighed, but she still sat on the edge of the bed.

"So…" Roy drawled. "How were things down at the precinct?"

"Everyone's still working hard. They're looking forward to having you back, sir."

Roy frowned slightly at the use of 'sir', but decided not to bring it up immediately. "Anything else?"

Riza turned her body more towards him so that she could see his eyes more easily. "We got a call from narcotics, apparently they've gotten an increase in drug trafficking over the last week or so."

Roy grunted. "The Hohenheims?"

"More than likely." Riza answered. "So far it's been mostly crystal meth. But whoever the Hohenheims have making it, they're very good. The lab tested a sample and said that it was the purest product of heroin that they had ever seen."

Roy nodded thoughtfully. "I can't think of anyone in the city who knows how to cook to that extent. They must have gotten a player from outside of Central." He looked back at Riza, he could see there were several other things on her mind.

"What is it, Riza?"

The use of her first name seemed to make her relax slightly. "It's…Commissioner Raven officially closed the Edward Hohenheim case today."

"I know." Roy sighed, thinking back to how it had ended. "He called me earlier. Says that the evidence against Vincent was overwhelming." Which was true. They had him buying the same type of car used in the attack, he had a connection to the victim, and the evidence in his apartment showed that he'd been stalking Edward Hohenheim for some time.

"But something still doesn't seem right to you?" She asked, noticing the frown on his face.

"I'd be lying if I said that this outcome was satisfactory. Maybe it's my pride trying to lick its wounds" Roy offered.

"Do you think Van Hohenheim will be satisfied?" Riza asked with a raised eyebrow.

"Hell no." Mustang laughed. "He'll keep quietly looking under every rock in the city until his paranoia has been quenched."

Almost two minutes passed in silence before Riza spoke next. "This is the first time since the surgery that it's just been us in this room."

"Has it?" Roy said with a small grin, fake surprise in his voice. "I hadn't noticed." He stopped, however, when he saw the serious look on her face.

"Roy…I…" Riza felt her eyes start to grow heavy as small tears started to form. Images of that day started to flash through her mind; hearing the gunshot, seeing the bullet hit Roy, watching his body fall to the ground. Riza's hands started to grip the blanket tightly.

Mustang's eyes briefly widened before softening. It was rare to see Riza act vulnerable. She was someone who kept her emotions behind a closed door, only opening it for brief moments. It has been that way ever since her father had died. Many people might consider Riza to be a stoic person, closed off from everyone else. But Roy saw through it all.

"Come here." He whispered, reaching out and pulling her into a hug. Riza accepted it without any resistance, burying her head in his shoulder as she hugged him back. She needed to know that he was okay, feel his heartbeat and the warmth coming from him.

"I'm sorry." Riza whispered with a thick voice. Tears falling onto his pale hospital gown.

Roy stiffened at her words. "What did you say?"

Riza pulled back to look into his onyx colored eyes. "I'm sorry. I saw him going for the gun, but I wasn't fast enough. I should have-"

"Don't." Roy's eyes hardened, he was now gripping her shoulders. "Don't you dare apologize for what happened."

"But-"

"If you continue that sentence I will fire you." The dead serious look on his face made her inclined to believe his threat. Roy paused to loosen his tight grip on her, moving his hands to cup her face. "I knew the risks of trying to take down Vincent. I knew them the day I graduated from the Academy. Our jobs are dangerous, but they are necessary. As members of the Central Police Force it is our jobs to protect this city, maintain law and order, and keep hope alive. We don't do it for the money or recognition, we do it because we believe in something greater than ourselves. Everyday that I put on the badge, I know that there is a slight chance it might be my last. But until that day I will do everything I can to save this city. Because that is what it means to be an officer of the law."

There was silence following his speech before Riza looked down at her lap. "Did Maes say that?"

A sad yet nostalgic smile appeared on Roy's face. "Well I may have paraphrased a bit, but he told me something similar to that. Three months before his death actually."

Hawkeye nodded. "That sounds like something Hughes would say. He was always good with words."

"What?" Roy narrowed his eyes. "Are you saying that I'm not?" His tone was playful though.

"Perhaps." Riza said with a chuckle. The silence that followed then was more comfortable. The two of them slowly realized that Roy had practically pulled her onto his lap. Seeing their positions, Riza was about to move before Mustang suddenly gripped her shoulders again

"Roy wha-" Her words were cut off as Roy slammed his mouth onto hers. Hawkeye immediately responded, kissing him back eagerly while delving a hand into his dark hair. His tongue probed her lip, beggin entrance, which she gave greedily. For several minutes the two sat there in a passionate embrace, uncaring that at any moment they could be interrupted. Eventually air became an issue and the couple was forced to pull back.

"God, I've waited all week to do that." Roy murmured, their foreheads pressing together.

"I'm sorry that I couldn't visit you sooner." Riza breathed out. "This last week as been hell."

"Says the woman who didn't get shot a few inches from the heart." He chuckled while she glared. Roy then glanced at the clock before grinning slowly and deeply.

"You know, I told the hospital staff not to bother me for a another hour-"

"Roy." Riza said warningly.

"-and I don't think anyone else will be coming in." He raised his eyebrows suggestively, hands running up and down her sides. "Why don't we make up for lost time."

"No." She said firmly.

"Oh come on." Roy sounded like a wounded animal. "It could be exciting."

"Perhaps a little too exciting." Riza drawled, eyeing the area of his chest that still bore the stitches from the surgery. The thought of them bursting and him bleeding out all over her didn't sound very appealing. She grabbed his wrists and moved the wandering hands off of her.

"Fine. Excuse me for trying to be adventurous." Roy pouted in a way that almost made her laugh. "I still love you though." He looked back at Riza to see her staring back at him in surprise. It took him a few seconds to realize why.

Roy gave a sigh. "We've never said it out loud before. Haven't we." It was a statement, not a question.

"I don't think so." Riza shook her head. Since their secret relationship had started, they had done plenty of things but never said the 'L' word.

Roy nodded thoughtfully. "Why do you think that is?"

"I…" Riza trailed off. "I'm not quite sure actually."

"Hmm." Roy moved back so he was leaning against the bed. His hand was clasped in Riza's. Eventually she looked at the clock as well.

"It is starting to get late. Perhaps I should leave before Vato gets suspicious-"

"Don't." Roy cut her off. His voice and face serious before softening. "I…I'd really enjoy it if you stayed a little bit longer. Besides I think he's already figured it out."

Riza gave a small laugh. "I'm pretty sure half the precinct knows about us."

Roy let out a sigh. "Thank god they can keep a secret." If word got to their superiors that the two of them were in a relationship, it would be fatal for both their careers. Plus, Grumman would probably never speak to Roy again or allow him within half a mile of his granddaughter. "Speaking of secrets. I have a proposition for you."

Riza raised an eyebrow.

"When Commissioner Raven called me earlier, he practically mandated that I take a least a few weeks of time off." He then chuckled. "If I knew getting shot would get me some extra vacation time, I'd have asked you to-" He trailed off at the glare Riza gave him. "Anyways. It seems like I have some me time, Chris suggested going to some beach resort down south."

"That sounds relaxing."

"She said that I'm working myself into an early grave, and that this city can survive a few days without me." Roy paused before taking the leap. "Last time I checked, you have some vacation time stored up as well." He gave her a wry grin.

'He's asking me to come with him!' Riza was momentarily caught off guard by the suggestion. They'd been in a relationship for a long time but, believe it or not, they'd never left the city on a trip together. Due to the secrecy, they'd never risked being in public. It had always been them sneaking around; stealing kisses behind closed doors and passionate nights in hotels or on top of abandoned office desks. Seeing the concentrated look on her face, Roy could see that Riza was considering all of this and was weighing the risks.

"Riza, I've been doing some thinking these last few days. Almost dying does that to you. And I decided, for this one instance, that the rules can go fuck themselves." Roy gave her the most charming smile that he could muster.

Riza pondered his words for a moment before giving him a smile. "Fuck the rules then." She answered before pulling him in for another kiss.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **The Hohenheim Manor, later that afternoon:**

Winry heard Edward being brought down the stairs well before she saw them. While the staff at the manor had gotten the hang of carrying him down the stairs to the basement, it was still pretty rickety for the passenger.

'Huh, is it that time already?' Winry asked herself as she glanced at the nearby clock. Time often got away from her when she was working.

The creaking floorboards were accompanied by a few muttered curses and rather loud intakes of breath from Ed. Perhaps setting up shop in a basement wasn't the most strategic location, but they could always move upstairs for the later stages.

'Also I think Mr. Comanche would hate me if I had him and the others bring all of this stuff back up stairs.' Winry thought as she placed her grease stained wrench and screwdriver down then whirled around to face Edward as he was placed on the ground.

"Thank you, butterfingers." He grumbled sarcastically. The staff members all gave Winry an acknowledging nod before heading back upstairs.

"So." Winry started, getting Ed's attention. "How was your workout earlier?"

Edward gave a nonchalant shrug. "Not too bad. Did 34 sit ups."

Winry narrowed her eyes dangerously as she took the goggles off her face. "34? I thought I told you not to go over 20."

Ed left fingers drummed against the armrest of the wheelchair as a cocky grin appeared on his face. "You did, but I thought I'd go bigger."

"Dammit Edward." Winry stood up, folding her arms angrily. "I warned you not to push yourself. You could have pulled a damaged muscle or reopened a-"

"I also recall you saying that we were going to do this at my pace." Edward leaned back into the chair. "So shouldn't I get decide how many sit ups I can do?" His damn shit-eating grin was back in action.

"I've created a monster." Winry rolled her eyes. Just a few days ago he'd been depressed, now he was acting just his old arrogant self. She still couldn't fully decide whether this was a positive or a negative.

"Don't take credit just yet, I was a monster way before you came into my life." Edward used his left hand to move the chair closer to Winry's workbench.

Winry shook her head and turned back to the desk. "I honestly can't tell if you were complimenting yourself or not."

Ed chuckled. Their daily meetings usually opened up with playful banter such as this. It was pleasant and had helped to smooth over any old wounds from when she first became his mechanic.

"I'll be with you in just a second, Edward. I need to add some more touches and then I have a surprise for you."

Ed raised his eyebrows, his mouth curved upwards into a smirk. "Is this going to be good surprise or a bad one?"

Winry chuckled, looking at him over her shoulder. "I can assure you that it will be good."

Edward nodded his head, his eyes looking around the room. He had to give Winry credit, she certainly was able to keep her shit organized. The entire room was full of various metal parts, tools, and devices yet it seemed to be in some sort of order. Looking back at his mechanic, Ed noticed that she was clad in her normal peach colored jumpsuit, her blond hair held back by a black bandana.

He knew it was best to not disturb her, but he grew curious as to what Winry was working on. Rolling the wheels forward, Edward was able to crane his head enough to see what was on the desk. "Holy shit, someone's been busy down here."

Winry smiled, looking down at her work with pride. On the table were the port systems that would connect the automail limbs to Edward's body. The last time Ed had really seen them a few days earlier, they had just been exoskeletons. But now both of them looked nearly completed. Both ports had their outer layers mostly attached, the insides of them filled with various wires and gadgets that he couldn't make any sense out of no matter how many time Winry tried to explain them.

"Oh yeah, I was finally able to attach the nerve interfaces." Winry pointed to small devices that sorta looked like satellite dishes to Edward. From what he had gathered, they were inserted on the side of the port where the automail limb itself was connected. According to Winry, these interfaces were what past information and movement from his nerves to the metal limbs themselves. "I'm currently syncing up the wires from one end of the port to the next." Turning back to look at him. "Do you remember what those do, Edward?"

"Uh…"

Winry gave a sigh. "Edward, you really need to start paying attention to this. It's important that you understand how your limbs will operate."

"Care to refresh my memory." Ed drawled.

Winry shook her head, but explained anyway. "Basically these various wires are what take in electrical pulses from the nerves. They then use this pulses to power and regulate the various electric motors and pneumatic actuators inside the automail limb itself. Did you catch any of that?" She looked at him questionably.

"Yeah, I think so. So when's the test?"

"You already failed it." Winry fired back, turning to continue working on the ports. Edward decide to be quiet now, he had disturbed her enough. It was best to stop before she got legitimately annoyed at him. With not much else to do, Ed sat back and watched his mechanic work. Several times over the last few days he had found himself doing this, simply observe her. It was slightly fascinating to watch how into it she got. It was almost like Winry's brain went into its own little world. Several minutes passed before Winry seemed to realize that she didn't have a tool that was needed.

With a sigh, the blonde mechanic stood up from the stool and started walking to a cabinet where she stored her tools. Edward's eyes followed her on autopilot. But as he did this, a frown appeared on his face. For some odd reason he found himself unable to look away from his mechanic as she crossed the room. Something about her had definitely changed, because she looked fucking spectacular in that jumpsuit.

'Holy shit.' Ed could practically feel his mouth watering as his eyes devoured her body. 'Has it always been that...tight?'

While not revealing, the outfit outlined Winry's body spectacularly, leaving not much to the imagination.

When he had first seen her at the Xerxes, Winry's outfit had hinted at a well defined figure. Well now he could confirm that theory one hundred percent. Winry's body was a perfect hourglass figure if he had ever seen one. His wandering eyes were first drawn to the the accentuated swells of her breasts. Purely based on appearances, each one looked to be well above a handful. The thought of that caused Edward to groan quietly as he continued to unashamedly examine her. Unfortunately she heard him.

"Everything okay Edward?" She stopped walking and turned to look at him.

"I uh…" He tried to fight the heat that was threatening to show on his face. "Just thinking about something crazy that Envy said to me earlier."

Winry arched an eyebrow. For a moment Ed was afraid he'd been caught in a lie, fortunately she chuckled.

"I'm guessing it was something horrible?" Winry asked humorously. "You're brother's quite a character." She had done her best to avoid coming into contact with the oldest Hohenheim son ever since she saw him waving a katana around.

"Understatement." Ed muttered as Winry resumed her work, cross the room and pulling a box of tools out from under the work table. Edward hesitated for a moment before looking her up and down again. Fortunately or unfortunately he couldn't quite tell, Winry was busy collecting things for their session so she was walking back and forward from one side of the room to another.

"Give me a second, Edward." She said. "I'll be ready soon."

"Take your time." He responded.

The swells of her breasts were hypnotic yet he forced himself to look away to do some more exploring. The jumpsuit slimmed down to a narrow waist, highlighting every perfect curve and contour. From there it hugged her rounded hips like a second skin. Winry was facing him as she returned to the workbench, oblivious to his staring. Ed watched the ever so slight sway of her hips that occured with each step. Her legs were surprisingly long for a woman with an overall small frame. His last, but certainly not least, location on his voyeuristic journey presented itself when Winry turned around and Ed found himself staring at her ass. Much like her hips, the suit was particularly tight at this region showing off what was quite possibly the best ass that Edward had ever seen.

'Christ! Get ahold of yourself.' Ed thought as lurid fantasies began to cloud his mind. 'Has she been wearing this outfit all week? I'm gonna need to get my fucking eyes examined...or get laid. One or the other.'

On the other side of the room, Winry watched Ed out the corner of her eye. She noticed with amusement his flushed features and deeply frustrated expression. From the beginning she could feel him eyeing her up, he wasn't being as subtle as he thought. However Winry didn't feel particularly offended by his wandering eye. Patients had been eyefucking her since day one of being an automail mechanic. Winry was well aware that she was beautiful, not that she bragged about it, and during some sessions the patients didn't have much else to do but watch her. The fact that the mechanic jumpsuits drew attention to certain areas of the wearer's body probably didn't help.

It had been uncomfortable at first, men leering at her while she worked. But after a while it stopped being creepy and just became normal nuiscence. She could handle men looking to a certain degree, but anything else there was zero tolerance for. Any patient who had wandering hands got a wrench straight to the forehead. If the staring got too uncomfortable and constant, she'd tell them to stop or get themselves a new mechanic. That method almost always worked.

As Winry walked back to her desk and sat down on the stool, she again stole a quick glance at Edward. He was looking in the opposite direction of her, that frustrated expression still on his face. Winry found the sight oddly cute. 'So now you've decided to be a gentleman?' She thought with a quiet chuckle.

When she had caught him watching her, the look in his eyes wasn't the usual lecherous leer that most men had. Those looks ended with wrenches to the face. The closest she could describe the look in his eyes was…awestruck. 'That's certainly new.' She thought, quickly turning back around so that Edward couldn't see her blush. 'I wonder how he would react if he knew I was doing the same thing to him.' Winry's slight blush intensified.

As professional as Winry tried to be, she was still a woman; and any woman who didn't think that Edward Elric was mouth wateringly attractive would have to be blind. He was by far the most aesthetically pleasing patient that Winry had ever had worked with. Over the last few days, and even in the hospital, Winry had seen Edward in various states of undress. And although Winry would sooner give up being a mechanic then admit it, she had taken a few peeks.

It had only gotten worse once they started doing the exercises. Due to the initial difficulty of the tasks he had to perform, Winry had to lead him through how to do them. This meant a fuckton of touching and body parts being pressed together rather intimately. Edward had taken very good care of his body before the accident and was in an excellent shape, even sporting a damn six pack. It had been a challenge not to simply run her hands over every ridge and tight muscle on his sculpted chest, to test their firmness for herself. Another bonus was that their workouts usually resulted in Ed covered in sweat, hot, and panting. His strong chest expanding with every breath while beads of sweat dripped down his back. God! Even just thinking about those sinful images made Winry shudder.

'Keep it together girl.' Winry thought. 'I don't think Van Hohenheim would appreciate it if I took advantage of his son. Even if he is a rather fine specimen.' Thankfully her attraction to Edward hadn't gotten in the way of her duties as his mechanic. She found him pleasing to look at, there wasn't anything wrong with that. Seeing that she was done with working on the ports for the time being, Winry finally put both of them out of their misery by getting his attention.

"So are you ready?" She asked, turning on the stool to face him.

"For what exactly?" Ed answered, trying his best to be indifferent.

"To walk." Winry said with a smile.

Ed raised an eyebrow. "Easy there Doc, I think you have the timeline of this whole thing mixed up. Aren't you supposed to insert the ports or something before that happens."

"Yes, that's for the automail." Winry said. "But while I finish up with the ports, I think you're ready for this."

Winry turned around and leaned over slightly to pick up something that was covered by a blanket under the workbench. Ed moved his gaze to to stare at the wall, trying his best to not let his eyes return to their previous destinations. Winry turned around, smiling brightly, with a long object in her arms. She grabbed ahold of the rough sheet covering it and pulled it off to reveal a wooden leg.

Ed stared at it for a few seconds. "What the hell is that?" He asked.

"A wooden substitute limb." Winry told him. "I created it using the castings of your legs. Basically you'll be able to strap this on yourself and it'll let you walk around."

Ed looked at the wooden contraption skeptically. It didn't look very sophisticated.

"I'm going to walk on that thing?" He asked dryly.

Winry huffed. "Yes Edward. It's to help you get used to walking in preparation for the automail. And besides, don't you want to finally get out that chair?"

Ed glanced down at the damned wheelchair that had been his prison for the last few weeks. "Yeah." He said looking up. "But I….how does that thing work?"

"I'll show you." Winry said, stepping closer to kneel down in front of him. "We'll go slow. I'll take you through every step." She said confidently before following up with a softer, more gentle tone. "Do you think you're ready to take this step? If not, we can try again whenever you feel ready." She was still determined to move at his pace.

"No." Ed shook his head before looking her straight in the eye. "Get me out of this fucking chair. Let's do it."

Winry smiled again. "Ok, let's do it."

She pointed down to the prosthetic limb. "So this thing isn't going to be as smooth of a ride as automail. You'll have to walk a bit stiffly." She pointed specifically to the joint. "This right here will lock whenever you stand still or are seated. But when you put pressure or move the leg it will unlock." She looked back up at him to make sure he was still paying attention. "Don't take any big steps. That'll just end with you on the ground. Instead take small, steady steps with it. When you move the leg up, the springs in the back will…"

Ed was only slightly paying attention to her words. He got the basic gist of her describing the functions of the limb, what made it do this, and what made it do that. Instead the majority of his attention was on the look of her lips. Must like the rest of her body, Edward hadn't realized just how pleasant looking they were. Plump and red, perfect for kissing. He watched them move as she fired out words like there was no tomorrow. Now he wasn't even absorbing what Winry was saying, instead Edward found himself unable to look away from his mechanic. Finally tearing his gaze off of her lips, Ed began to study other parts of her face.

'Damn, her skin is fucking flawless.'

It was true, there wasn't a single blemish for him to see. The softness of her face was a complete contrast from the tough and independent woman underneath. Her cheekbones were high, yet still gentle. Her jaw was not nearly as pointed as his, but it was a still strong looking. With an internal sigh, Edward admitted to himself that on top of having a killer body, Winry had a more than attractive face.

Realizing that she was still talking, he tried to focus again but was unable to ignore how her normally bright blue eyes were alive with excitement. One that he had never seen from her until they were this close together. Automail wasn't just a job for Winry, it was her passion and she poured that passion into everything she did. Every action from Winry was done with maximum precision. From the tiniest tweak of a screw to the last flair she added when finishing up a project; every movement was graceful, precise, and deliberate.

'Make it fucking stop.' Ed thought with an internal groan. All week he had been fine, but then Envy had to go and put evil thoughts in his head. Now he couldn't stop objectifying the woman who was literally going to give him his life back. Although Winry didn't seem like someone who was scared off easily, it could make things uncomfortable if she noticed. 'Why can't my life ever be easy? Why does there always have to be a catch?'

"Ok now that we've gone over all of that, let's get this thing on you."

Ed mentally kicked himself for getting distracted again. He was Edward Hohenheim, dammit, he shouldn't be losing his focus so easily.

"Alright." Edward answered, trying to sound as if he'd been paying attention.

Amusement showed on Winry's face as her lips curled into a small smirk. "You zoned out about halfway through my explanation, didn't you?" Before he could stutter out any response she was already moving on to the next step.

"Okay, it's not too hard so just follow my lead and we should be fine." She said, positioning the end off the leg towards him. There were straps and buckles clicking around.

"So this goes around your waist." Winry lifted a leather belt. "And these goes around your hip and other leg." She then lifted smaller straps."

"Alright." Ed said, his eyes bouncing from one little strip of leather to another.

"And your leg goes into this." Winry positioned the opening of the leg near him. "I based this off of the impression that we took at the hospital. Your thigh should slide right in with no problem. So just sit back and let me do all the work."

'And just like that my left hand will be busy later.' Ed thought with a sigh, Envy's earlier words coming back to him.

 _"You can just sit back and let that sexy blonde fox do all the work"_

Shaking his head Edward focused as Winry began strapping the wooden leg to him. This was mostly done in silence, with Winry occasionally giving him a soft command such a leaning forward so she can get the belt around his waist or leaning back so she can work the straps around his right leg. Once she was done strapping the replacement leg to him, Winry sat back with a small smile on her face. Ed looked down at the replacement limb with furrowed eyebrows. Seeing what resembled a leg back where one used to be was off putting. For a second he almost believed that his leg had come back somehow. When he ran his hand over the cool wood he reminded himself that this wasn't what was going to keep him on his feet permanently. He lifted the stump of his leg and winced a little at the added weight.

Ed barely got the replacement limb an inch off the chair before he had to let it fall back down. He released a breath that he had been holding and tried to move it again. Normally it was very easy for him to move his stump around. Ed had practiced it in the efforts of keeping his strength up. Now however he had to strain against the heavy weight that had just been added. Winry watched him carefully as he did this. When it seemed like Edward had gotten the hang of it, or at least the pain had faded slightly, she decided to move forward.

"So...ready to give it a go?" Winry asked.

"No time like the present." Ed mumbled out.

Winry nodded and held out her hand. With a shaky breath Edward reached out and took it, their fingers clasping together as she pulled him closer. Winry wrapped her other arm around Ed's shoulders, making sure to get a firm grip on him. Edward swallowed at how close they were, he could feel the heat of her body through the jumpsuit. He wasn't someone who usually enjoyed hugs, except in certain intimate bedroom settings, but Winry's arms around him felt strangely comforting. Immediately pushing these thoughts aside, Ed focused on the task at hand.

"Put your hand on my shoulder. Don't be scared of holding too tight." She instructed as she tightened her grip on him. "I can tough it out."

Ed did as he was told, putting his hand on her for support. His hand looked rather large on her small shoulder. But he could still feel her muscles through the jumpsuit. It made sense. She'd had to have gotten strong to carry all of the heavy equipment around.

"Okay." Winry said, their foreheads practically touching. "When I count to three, you're going to stand up. I'm not going to lie, it will hurt. But I won't let you fall. Do you trust me?"

Ed let out a breath. "Do I have much of a choice?" He tried to sound cheeky, but the serious of the situation bled into his tone.

Winry gave him a smile. "Okay, when we start I want you to put most of your weight on your right leg. Once you feel its okay, start gradually putting weight on the wooden one. It will sting a bit, but you should get used to it."

"Can we just get this over with." Ed didn't even care how nervous he sounded. This was it! After all this time, he was finally going to be standing on two legs once again. Winry nodded and got ready.

"One."

His fingers tightened a bit on Winry's shoulders, she gave him a reassuring look. Both of them stared into each other's eyes, unable to look away.

"Two."

Ed's body tensed as he got ready to stand up. This was it!

"Three."

"Ahh!"

Ed gritted his teeth, but kept pushing forward. Propelling his body upward, using his right leg and Winry's body for leverage. Her grip on him tightened, pressing them even closer together. They worked together to get him up on his feet. As soon as Ed finally pushed off from the chair he thought that Winry was going to give way under his weight. After all he was bigger than her. But she held strong, bearing his weight with only a barely audible grunt. Ed more or less collapsed into her. For a few moments they simply stood there, Winry keeping them up while Edward tried to get use to the sensations. Letting out a pained gasp as his real and fake legs nearly gave out from under him. Winry barely wavered in her stance, holding on to him with a solid grip.

Still, Ed panted from the exertion of getting to his feet. God, it hurt! The veins in his head were threatening to pop out. He felt the strain in his legs and lower back as his body got used to standing after being immobile for so long. Edward grinded his teeth as the nerves on his left thigh were burning in pain. Across from him, Winry herself was wincing due to the death grip his hand had on her shoulder. No doubt there would be dark bruises, yet Winry didn't care. All that mattered was Edward.

"You're okay." Winry whispered into his ear. "You got this."

"I got it?" Ed wheezed breathlessly. He opened his eyes, not even realizing that they had been closed. Azure blue stared straight into him.

"Hell yeah." She said, grinning.

Ed stood in the position for several moments before he moved to stand up straight. He started by moving his left leg. The wooden prosthetic moved with him when he stepped back and locked into place so he could stand. He still had his hand on Winry's shoulder while her's were holding onto his waist tightly. Ed let out a breath before moving his right leg and taking a step away from Winry. The vertebras in Ed's spine popped as his back straightened. It had been a while since he last stretched. Edward let out a small groan at the feeling and closed his eyes again. When he opened them, Edward saw that he was standing for the first time in weeks.

His gaze fell to the floor where he could see both his real and fake leg supporting him. They were trembling slightly, but holding him up nonetheless. A smile broke out onto Edward's face as he started looking around the room. He hadn't realized how much he missed seeing things from this height.

Finally, his gaze met Winry's. He was looking down at her for first time since they got coffee at that diner.

'I forgot how tall I was.' Ed thought dumbly.

She had a bright smile on her face. Ed didn't know if he had ever seen her this happy before. Quickly releasing her shoulder, he suddenly found himself unsure of where to put his hand. After a moment of deliberation, he put placed it on her waist. The brief moment caused her to laugh quietly.

"I knew you could do it." Winry said, her eyes growing a little moist.

Ed couldn't help but return her smile unashamedly.

"Thank you."

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **A motel just outside of Central, that night** :

It was a low rent motel room. The furniture wasn't very expensive and the wallpaper was concerningly cheap looking. That did not matter to the two naked occupants of the bed who were peacefully sleeping under the covers. One was a man with light blonde hair and the other a woman with short black hair. The air around them still had a musky scent to it as the two lovers slept together.

Suddenly a cellphone on the bedside table rang wild.

The man groaned and turned away from the obnoxious ringing. The woman let out a muffled sigh.

"Your phone." The man grumbled sleepily as his eyes blinked open.

"On it." The woman reached out and picked up the phone. She immediatly recognized the contact of the person who was calling her. She quickly pulled herself together and answered it.

"This is Lyria Rial." She answered. She paused after speaking as the person on the other end of the phone began to say their piece. Her expression changed from a bored professionalism to slightly scared.

"Are you sure?" She asked. The person on the other end answered.

"And who was the name of the man?" She followed up. "Thank you, I will let Mr. Hohenheim know immediately." She hung up the phone.

"What was it?" The green eyed man lying next to her asked in a drawl.

"We have a problem." Lyra said.

Narrowing his eyes, Atlas pushed off the covers and sat up in the bed. He'd been hoping for a second round once they woke up, but based on Lyra's serious face that was not happening.

"Tell me."

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **I don't think Lyra and Atlas have ever been shipped together. So I'd like to take credit for creating this union.**

 **Due to how use life has been getting, there might be longer gaps in between chapter updates. But I promise to do my best to get them out as quickly as possible.**

 **Please review!**


	22. Chapter 22

**BakaFangirl:** I certainly hope that Ed and Winry's relationship is going well. There are scary things happening behind the scenes though….

 **Pepin-Bones:** Yep, finally updated. It was nice to finally have Ed get back on his feet. He can only mope around for so long.

 **Mlopez1779:** Thank you for your praises, it keeps me going as a writer. The reason I started writing stories was to add new ones because I read most of them and wanted there to be more. I don't blame you for skipping over me a few times. If you don't mind trying out Edwin AUs, check out .c's Perfect Blood, that was the one that really made me want to write. Don't worry about me not finishing this story, I'll finish it.

 **Criis55:** Whenever I don't remember what happened in previous chapters after an update for a story I'm reading, I go back to skim through them. That said, I'm proud of the relationships in this story. The slowburn for the Edwin is starting to get to me but I like the natural flow of it. I hope it's not too slow. As for Lyra and Atlas, I thought it would add some more depth to them other then being one dimensional villains.

 **AlteMilch:** Hope you gasped for this one too! I take forever to get chapters out nowadays but I'll never give up on this story, there will be an ending and I won't rush it. I just hope you stick with me to the end. Thanks for your support.

 **SleepinBeautyk:** That was a rather vague cliff hanger with Lyra and Atlas. You'll find out about the phone call this chapter. Yeah last chapter did have a lot of couple activity in it, there will be a bit more in this one.

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Central, a different time:**

 _The light shined impressively off of the knife held in the youth's hands. It was a good looking knife, smooth and shiny in the light. It would definitely get a person's attention if it was used to hold them up. But that wasn't what the Boy was going to use it for. Not yet at least._

 _For now, it was to protect him from the other boys in the street._

 _The Boy looked down at his knife one more time before clicking it back together and stashing it in his pocket. He wore a dirty brownish red jacket. His hair was long and tied neatly into a long single braid down his back. His worn out shoes scraped against the ground as he walked down the alley that he had been staring in. His eyes glaring at the ground in front of him._

 _At the simple age of 12, he'd already had more responsibility pushed on his shoulders than he felt was possible for someone like him to bear. He was the only one in his pathetically tiny family able to make money. Actually he was the only one even trying to make money. The Boy just glared in front of him as he walked forward._

 _Eventually he got to where he needed to go._

" _Hey kid, you're late."_

 _The Boy's monotone expression did not change. He looked up at the man who was staring down at him from the back door of a brewery. The Boy had recently convinced the owner of this establishment to give him a job. While it was not legal to officially hired minors for this work, that didn't stop the owner, Rian Abrams, from hiring several young Boys to load crates of alcohol into his trucks. He could pay them much less than what he would have to pay actual working adults._

" _Well what do you have to say for yourself?" Abrams demanded._

 _The Boy simply lowered his gaze so that the man would not see the hatred in his eyes and get even angrier._

" _Just get in here already." Abrams grabbed the boy roughly by the shoulders and pulled him into the door. A shove caused the Boy to stumble but he was able to retain his balance. In front of him he could see that the other boys were already at work carrying the crates to the trucks. The back of the brewery had a big garage door that could fit the ends of three trucks through it. Their job right now was to fill all three of the trucks before the next three showed up and keep on doing that until the day was over. A new set of trucks arrived every thirty minutes._

" _Get to it, will you." Abrams shouted as he walked. "They're behind because of you."_

 _The Boy cast one last glare over his shoulder. He did not linger for long and quickly threw off his jacket to get to work._

 _There were eight other boys besides him. They came from similar situations with similar needs. Few of them were actually friends. In fact they all mostly resented each other. Maybe it was the fact that looking at the kid who was handing the boy the crates made the Boy think too much about himself. It made the Boy think about how low he truly was. How there were a million other kids just like him. That there was nothing important or special about him at all._

 _That's what the Boy resented about the other kids. He'd resented them for the four months that he had this job. In that time he did not bother to learn why the others resented each other. He did not even bother to learn their names. He did not believe that he needed to. He'd just acknowledge certain characteristics of the ones that he needed to interact with. Such as the fact that the kid handing him the crates was wearing a green sweatshirt. Also, the kid that the Boy was giving the crates to was wearing a red cap._

 _Work was quiet. Robotic even._

 _Unless something happened._

 _ **Crash!**_

 _The Boy spun around to look at the kid with the red cap. The Boy had just handed him a crate full of beers only for Red Cap to almost immediately drop it on the floor._

" _Shit!" Red Cap said, his face suddenly deathly pale. "Shit!"_

 _The other kids had stopped in their work. They were all staring at Red Cap with wide eyes. The Boy didn't stare with shock or horror. He looked upon with an almost satisfied indifference. He had never liked Red Cap and now the kid was really going to get it. Red Cap suddenly looked at him with a small smirk on his face._

" _Why'd you do that?" Red Cap shouted accusingly._

" _Do what?" The Boy asked, frowning._

" _Make me drop it!"_

 _The Boy laughed. "I didn't make you drop shit. That was all you, moron."_

" _WHAT THE HELL IS GOING ON HERE!"_

 _All the kids turned to see Abrams angrily stomping towards them. In his hand was a metal stick._

" _Alright! Which one of you shits dropped the case?" He demanded looking between the boy and Red Cap._

 _The Boy was about to answer when Red Cap blurted out. "It was him!"_

" _Fuck you. No it wasn't." The Boy shouted back before he heard the kid in the green sweater's voice._

" _Yes it was. I saw him."_

 _The kid in the green sweater was friends with Red Cap._

 _Before the Boy could utter a word. Abrams slammed the butt of the metal pole into his chest._

 **Clunk!**

 _The air was forced out of his lungs as pian erupted through his body. He gasped out as he fell to his feet._

" _Little shit." Abrams hissed. "I warned you!"_

 _He raised the pole and brought in down hard on the Boy's back._

 **Clank!**

 _The Boy cried out and fell back to the ground. Abrams threw the pole to the side and grabbed the Boy by the scruff of his shirt. He lifted the child up sharply before slamming his small body back into the ground. The Boy tasted blood in his mouth. Abrams yanked him up again and held him in front of him._

" _I told you-" Abrams slapped the Boy hard across the face, causing blood to fly as his lip was torn._

 **Slap!**

" _Loose fingers-"_

 **Slap!**

" _-get your's broken!"_

 **Slap!**

 _The Boy's face was bleeding from broken skin in his forehead, more blood flowing from his mouth and nose. He was dazed but had enough state of mind to reach into his pocket._

Click!

 _Abrams was about to slap the Boy again when he suddenly gasped out in pain. He threw the Boy away from him and clutched at his chest where blood flowed from the fresh stab wound. Now released, the Boy stumbled and fell. The bloody pocket knife was still his hands. He pushed himself and glared angrily at Abrams. Moving quick he grabbed the metal pole and smashed the middle aged man across the face with the blunt instrument. Abrams went down like a tree, knocked senseless. Acting almost on instinct, the Boy dove for Abrams' pockets until he found a wallet. The Boy quickly pulled all of the money that was in there out before throwing the wallet to the ground, grabbing the knife, and running out of the building._

 _Later, the Boy was standing outside of a door. It's condition was beyond decayed and molded. He pushed it to the side to to show the spare rooms that he and his mother were renting. The Boy shuffled into the living area. The rent was extremely cheap because the living conditions were quite horrible. There was no real furniture, no running water, and barely any electricity. The walls could hardly be classified as walls with all of the holes in them. And it was located in the probably the scummiest part of the city._

" _Honey, is that you!"_

 _The young Boy sighed. She was high again, probably drunk too. There was hardly a day where she wasn't one or the other. It had gotten so bad that he couldn't even feel sorry for her any more._

" _Yes mother." The young boy answered, moving to the spare room that acted as his mother's bedroom. She was sprawled out on the floor, her brown hair crazy and unclean. The nightgown, that she had bought fifteen years ago, had gotten a new stain to add to the growing collection of filth._

 _The Boy glared down at his mother. She had found his stash of money that he used to get them food. He was going to have to find a better place for the $234 that he had just gotten from Abrams. One that even she couldn't find. The Boy looked down at the money in his hand. It was good money. More money than he would make at the brewery, which he could never go back to. He looked in his other hand which held the knife._

 _It looked like he was going to find a good use for this._

" _Honey…."_

" _Yes mother."_

" _Did you play with your friends today?"_

 _The Boy brought his hand up to touch the dried blood on his forehead._

" _Yes mother." He answered with a sigh._

 _His mother laughed. "You boys always play so rough." She giggled, her mind completely elsewhere._

 _The Boy shook his head. She was getting worse and worse._

" _You're a very special boy."_

" _Thank you mother." He answered in a dull, rehearsed voice. She said that to him everyday, but he never believed her. If he was so special then why was his life so miserable._

" _No." She pushed herself up onto her knees. "Your father was a great man. A great and special man. So that means you're going to be a great and special man too."_

 _The Boy stared at his mother, not believing her in the slightest._

" _You're going to do great things, Solf."_

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **May Chang's Warehouse; outskirts of Central:**

Al's shoes clicked loudly against the catwalk as he strolled down it with his hands in his pockets. Below him was a whole warehouse of workers sitting at tables and making the product.

Their product.

Heroin, several tons of it was being produced every week. And that, all of the product was being sent to dealers who then took to the streets to sell. So far there had been no trouble with the police, Van had carefully seen to that. Now the money was starting to roll in big time. Blue collar, white collar; everyone was buying from them. However school children were off limits. His dad had been very firm with Chang about that. No drugs were to be sold to students in high school or middle school. May had reluctantly agreed to this term, muttering that they were missing out on good customers.

'I wonder if she took drugs in school.' Al thought. Personally he wasn't a big fan of this business. This wasn't like running a casino where you would occasionally pay someone off, break another person's fingers, and launder money. The business of producing and selling drugs ruined untold lives every day. They were basically poison to people which would slowly but inevitably destroy them. But Alphonse understood it was now the family business, he couldn't let his personal bias get in the way of that. Al and his father had arrived at the warehouse a few hours earlier. May Chang had been waiting to greet them. She showed them around, explained how everything worked, then her and Van had another argument/negotiation over the distribution of the profits. That had gone on for almost an hour before the two of them reached some kind of compromise. To say Al was impressed by May Chang would be an understatement. He couldn't think of many people who could go toe to toe with his father and force him to reach a compromise.

'Hard to believe her and Ling are related.' Al chuckles to himself.

Alphonse continued to move along the walkway, looking down at the workers below. There were four very long tables that stretched across the floor of the warehouse. Like an assembly line, Chang's workers prepared and packaged the heroin into bags where they would be ready for transport soon. Off to the side, behind a thick layer of canopy was what May had nicknamed the 'Greenhouse'. Inside this section of the warehouse was where the poppy plants were stored. According to May, they used an ancient Xingese method to grow and refine the heroin from the plants that would make it into the purest form possible. Since she was _the_ expert on this subject, Al took her word for it.

"You are aware that your father left thirty minutes ago?" May Chang said as she appeared beside Al.

"I am." He said, turning to look at her. "I'm just still looking around."

May arched an eyebrow. "Are you looking for anything in particular?"

Alphonse shrugged. "Not really. I'm simply trying to get a read on this place."

Chang leaned her body forward, her elbows resting on the railing as she chuckled. The movement drew Al's attention to May's Xingese style dress and how…complementary it was. She may have been a small woman, but she still had a very attractive body. Alphonse quickly snapped out of his stare when he saw May had noticed. The Xingese drug producer grinned mischievously and stood up straight.

"Come to my office, Alphonse."

Al raised an eyebrow at the sudden invitation. "What for?"

May's smile was rather catlike as she turned to face him. "A drink. Let's celebrate our first successful week as business partners."

"Um…alright." He responded, a little unsure.

May gave another giggle as she walked confidently back to the office, her heels clanking off the catwalk with Alphonse following. When they reached the office Al shut the door while May pulled out a bottle of wine.

"Is that from Xing?" He asked.

"Yes." May responded, pouring them two glasses. "I have a whole cellar full of them that I save for special occasions."

Al nodded as she handed him his drink. "So out of curiosity, how did you get involved in the drug business? Ling didn't give us too many details about your backstory."

May smiled. "I didn't imagine he would, We didn't part on very good terms. Although I was 9 and he was 16 when that happened."

Alphonse cocked an eyebrow. "What happened?"

Chang waved his question off. "Trust me, Alphonse it would take too long to explain. Let's just say that it involves two hundred years of family history, one war, and a divorce."

"Huh…" Al said thoughtfully as he held his drink. "And I thought my family was complicated."

May nodded. "In answer to your earlier question, it is because of my father that I became involved in this business. He runs a very extensive organization, not unlike your family's. I was assigned to handle the 'drug trafficking department' so to speak."

"Hmm." Alphonse hummed in response as the two of them took their drinks. Once they were done, both placed their glasses back on the desk.

"So…now that business is concluded, how about you and I go get some dinner." May offered with a flirtatious smile.

"Dinner?" Al asked, frowning slightly.

May smirked and walked towards Alphonse, she stopped only a few inches away from him. "I like you, Alphonse." The way she said his name almost made Al shiver. "And I think that we should get to know one another better."

Al gulped as his mind desperately tried to come up with a coherent response. His nervousness only caused May's smirk to widen. "Come on, don't you Hohenheims ever mix business with pleasure?" She practically purred as she pressed herself closer to him.

"N-not usually..." Al stuttered as May suddenly began to run her fingers up and down his clothed chest appreciatively. Alphonse found himself at a loss for what to do, this kind of shit would always happen to Ed but not him. The metaphorical angel on Al's right shoulder was telling him to remain professional and politely decline her proposition. But the devil, whose voice sounded suspiciously like a mixture of Ed and Envy, shouted at him to go for it.

"...But I think I can make an exception."

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

Fu had come to the Hohenheim Manor to speak with Van Hohenheim about a simple matter about certain business owners being late on protection payments. He could have easily have done it over the phone, yet he wanted to visit the mansion. In the last few hours he had heard a rumor down the grapevine that Edward was walking again. The news had lifted a weight that had formed in the old Xingese man's chest ever since the accident. Although Fu wasn't related to the Hohenheims, he still considered them to be very important to him. He had been one of Van's first enforcers and had the distinction of being the longest serving one. A younger Fu had even been there in the hospital when Edward was born, standing guard outside the delivery room. Since then he had watched the golden haired boy grow into an adult, along with Alphonse and to a weirder degree Edgar. They were almost like nephews to him. He believed that Scar felt the same way towards Van's sons, but the tall Ishvalan would never admit it out loud.

So when he heard that Edward was back on his feet, Fu was willing to use any excuse to see him. Van hadn't been there as it turned out. Apparently the Hohenheim patriarch and Alphonse were visiting the base of operations from which May Chang was producing her drugs. With his excuse for being there gone, Fu found himself strolling around the manor. He was about to walk out onto the backyard patio when he heard two voices, or rather one voice chastising another.

"Jesus Christ, Edward! Don't move so fast." A female voice sounded.

"What's a matter, can't keep up?" Fu could recognize that smug voice anywhere.

Crossing the patio, Fu looked over the railing in to the gardens where he saw two figures. Despite being steeled by years of wrongdoing, the old enforcer felt an emotional tug in his heart at what he saw. Edward was indeed walking. Albeit he was using what looked to be a wooden prosthetic and a crutch for support, but it was still walking. The golden haired young man was moving at a questionably brisk pace down the cobbled path of the garden, behind him was a rather exasperated young woman with blond hair and blue eyes.

"Ed, stop!" She ordered, catching up to him and grabbing his lone arm. "What do you think you're doing?" The young woman glared at him with a stern expression that reminded Fu very much of Izumi.

Edward gave her a lopsided grin. "I think I just beat you at a race across the garden."

The blonde mechanic sighed, running a hand over her face. "By race you mean that you just took off running like a child, completely ignoring the fact that you could have injured yourself. That leg of yours is only temporary. If you put too much pressure on it, you will break it."

'Hello Winry.' The wrinkled muscles on Fu's face twisted into a fond smile as he looked upon the grown-up daughter of Urey and Sarah Rockbell. It had been years since he saw her looking into the Rockbell family living room from atop the stairs, but Fu could still recognize the same little girl from back then.

Winry continued to lecture Edward about the dangers of running in his condition, but the second oldest son of Van Hohenheim had stopped listening to her words by then. Instead he seemed to be more focused on her rather than what she was saying. The way her lips moved with every word, the way the sun was caught in her hair, and the way her face was flushed with irritation. Fu noted with curiosity that the way in which Edward was gazing at his mechanic reminded him of how Ling had watched Lan Fan early in their relationship .

'Interesting.' Fu thought as he looked between the two of them. After another moment of observing them, the older man decided to give Edward and his mechanic some privacy. But as he walked back inside the manor, his thoughts still dwelt on what he had observed. 'Should I tell Van? Hmm, perhaps I am seeing something that isn't really there. I think only time will tell.' Fu made sure to close the door behind him.

Back with the two blondes, Winry had stopped her tirade and was now looking at Ed in concern. "How are your thigh muscles feeling? We've been walking for about thirty minutes, and you've been putting quite a lot of strain on them."

Ed's cocky grin faded when he saw the genuine concern on her face. "It aches a little." He admitted honestly. "Nothing too bad, though." That was a bit of lie, his earlier sprinting had left him quite winded. There was also sweat stains forming under his arms that his blond companion arched an eyebrow at.

"Still. As your mechanic I suggest that you sit down and take a break." Winry said firmly, arms crossed in a determined stance.

"Sure thing, Doc." Ed still called her by that nickname. Using the crutch he made his way over to a nearby bench with Winry following. The two of them sat down, Ed wincing slightly at the sharp pull in his left thigh.

"I saw that." Winry said dryly.

"Nothing I can't handle." Ed fired back smugly. Winry shook her head as the two of them fell into a comfortable silence.

It was a nice day. The sun was out, temperature wasn't too hot. There was also a nice breeze that felt good after being cooped up inside for so long. They'd spent yesterday and the last several hours with Edward practicing walking again. At first their therapy had been done in the basement with him walking from point A to point B with the help of a railing. Then it was using the crutch, walking in circles, going up stairs, and just getting use to the limb. Finally Winry had suggested that he take a walk outside to which Ed had quickly agreed. Anything to get out of the damned basement. Speaking of Winry, he turned to look at her.

His blonde mechanic seemed to be deep in thought. Gone was the jumpsuit, instead Winry was wearing a light blue long sleeve shirt and a black skirt that went all the way to her knees. She looked pretty damn good in the sunlight, it made her hair glow and her skin seem even fairer. Since that day when Winry had given him the wooden leg, it had become even harder for him not to notice her attractiveness. He had increasingly found himself gazing at her, trying to steal glances when she wasn't looking. More regrettably Ed also found her becoming the unintentional new star of his now daily masterbation sessions. That last fact had only made it harder during their therapy sessions where he would have to try and act normal around her.

"Its beautiful."

"Huh?" Ed was shaken from his thoughts by the very subject of those thoughts.

"The garden." Winry elaborated, turning to look at him. "Its beautiful."

Edward held her gaze for a few moments before turning to look out at the rows of colorful flowers, trimmed bushes, and even a water fountain. "It was my mother's." He said in a voice that sounded odd to him. "She uh…she planted the first flower here when she and my dad first moved in. After that, she kept adding to it. I guess it became a bit of a hobby for her."

Winry smiled. "Well, I think she did a great job." She said, nudging his shoulder playfully.

Ed nodded yet his eyes looked somewhat distant. "She didn't plant any of these." He said after a few seconds. Edward then chewed his upper lip before proceeding. "After…after she died, no one paid any attention to this place out here. All of the flowers she planted died. Everything she created wasted away." He paused to glance at Winry who was listening to him intently, but also respectively. She gave him a nod as if telling him it was okay to go on.

"A few years ago, my father he…" Edward sighed. "One day he just came out here and saw that everything was dead. Almost immediately he set about rebuilding it. He even hired contractors to make sure everything was perfect. You see, my Mom had plans for the garden but she never got the chance to create them." Ed stopped and pointed at the fountain. "That was her design. My father spent two thousand dollars making sure it looked exactly how she would have wanted it." He stopped and looked down at his lap, several emotions at war on his face.

Winry watched him sadly before reaching over hand putting a hand on Ed's shoulder. "He must have loved her very much."

Ed gave a laugh that wasn't bitter, but wasn't quite happy either. "Yeah, he did." Edward smiled. "So much so that I think anything human about him died with her." Silence met his answer so he turned to look at Winry was looking at him with sympathy. Normally Ed hated sympathy, but when it came from her it wasn't that bad.

"Sorry if I just killed the mood." He quipped. "Didn't mean to make you all sad."

"You didn't." Winry answered. "It was just nice to hear you talk about such things."

"Can't really talk about them with anyone else here." Ed responded.

"I like it when you get stuff off your chest."

Edward gave her a weird look before turning back towards the garden. "Is this a therapy session or something?"

Winry chuckled. "Edward, not everything we do is related to my job as your mechanic. We made some good progress today with you walking. Hell, it was more than good."

"More than good huh?" Ed's handsome face morphed in a grin. "Would you say my performance today was well above average?"

Winry couldn't suppress an eye roll. "Yes, Ed. You're recovering a lot faster than most of my other patients at this stage. You are a literal god among men." She spoke in a monotone voice before smirking. "There, did that feed your ego enough?"

"Hmmm, maybe you should do it a little more." Ed then moved his eyebrows suggestively.

Winry laughed at this, slapping him lightly on the shoulder. His flirty side had made a comeback within the last two days. "Don't even start that." She said before leaning back on the bench. "As I was saying before you hijacked the conversation, we're done with walking exercises for today. At the moment, you and I are just two normal people sitting on a bench." Winry then cocked her head slightly to look him in the eye. "Just because you're my patient doesn't mean we can't be friends."

Edward blinked, but kept his features neutral. "You sure that you want to be friends with someone like me?" He meant for it to sound like a joke, but in the back of his mind he remembered Izumi's initial warning.

"If I recall, you told me I was already a friend of the family." Winry countered. "That was when you took me to the coffee shop."

"There's a lot of 'friends of the family' who I, or the rest of my family, can't stand." Ed said. "Usually what that means is that you're useful to us. Like you own a business and give us a slice of the money. They're a friend because they benefit us. In your case it's a pre-established relationship based on blood relation."

"Well despite all that, I think we might as well be friends, because as you've probably seen so far; it's making this process go by a lot easier." Winry shot back.

"Whatever you say Doc." Ed said. "Just don't be shocked when you come across something ugly."

His tone of voice caused Winry to frown. It wasn't his usual joking manner like their earlier conversation. "Is that part of the 'there are things that I can't tell you' spiel from our phone call?"

Ed sighed. In the last few days he had also begun to wonder if Winry had forgotten who exactly he was before the accident, who his family was. Hell, she was currently living in a mansion with a bunch of criminals and killers, yet she had a positive smile on her face. It would be unfair for her to get dragged too far into their world. This, coupled with his unfortunately evergrowing perverted thoughts about her, was making Edward wonder about the future. He had to remember, as much as he enjoyed being around her, she was just here to do his automail. It wasn't fair to cause her any more trouble.

"You still want to open that automail shop right?" He said after a moment.

"Of course."

"Then make sure that stays your goal." Ed suggested. "Don't let anything drag you away from it. Because once you're in this life, the life that my family lives, you're in it for good."

Winry blinked. 'Where did this come from?' They had been having a perfectly pleasant conversation, then suddenly Edwards starts to make cryptic warnings. "You sound like my parents." She said with a sigh, turning away from him and looking out at the garden. "And my grandmother, and my friends, and also your Aunt." When the last part caused a confused expression on Ed's face she clarified. "On my first day here, Izumi told me that she warned you to stay away."

"Maybe if so many people are saying the same thing, you should listen to it." Ed said, running his hand through his golden hair. He was usually shit at these kind of conversations and his skills hadn't got any better. For example he was trying to be responsible and give Winry some potentially life saving advice, but that had gotten muddled in word vomit. "Look I'm just trying to give some advice here, Ok. I'd like for us to be friends, but just try not to make your life more complicated the process. I have a knack for causing people trouble."

Much to Edward's surprise, his words caused Winry to laugh loudly.

"Look at you trying to be all noble. Don't flatter yourself too much Ed. My life was already a complicated mess before I first snuck into your office." Winry said with a voice that held humor, but also a hint sadness.

" _Sixteen years ago; Urey and Sarah Rockwell were murdered."_

His conversation with Izumi from several weeks earlier flashed through his mind.

" _It happened when they were out grocery shopping. Urey and Sarah were just gunned down in the middle of a busy street. It happened right in front of Winry. The poor girl was only ten years old_."

Ed frowned, his eyes closing. 'Shit, how could I forget.' He chastised himself. 'She watched her own parents be murdered and they never even caught the guy who did it. That would have majorly screwed me up. Besides that Winry's also lost her grandmother, her dreams of getting her own shop were crushed, and there were thugs who roughed her up.' Edward opened his eyes to look at Winry's who's attention was still on the garden in front of them. As he watched her, Ed felt his respect for the beautiful mechanic grow. 'She went through all that shit, and still turned out pretty good.' It was then that he also thought back to the night of the crash, or more specifically what he had been thinking about.

Edward had been thinking of _her_ , mere minutes before the accident that took his arm and leg. He's been thinking about how he felt comfortable around her, how he was obviously interested in her. Lastly, he'd even pondered the idea asking her out for real.

Edward couldn't help but give a somewhat bitter chuckle. 'I wonder how that would have turned out.' Perhaps she would have said yes, perhaps she would have slapped him and stormed off like any reasonable person. But joking aside, there was a rather vocal part of him that wanted to get closer to Winry Rockbell. Whether that closeness was platonic or otherwise, he wasn't sure yet. He was starting to care about her, that much was certain. For now, he'd go along with the way things were going.

"Besides…" Winry spoke again, shaking Edward from his thoughts. "Despite what everyone said, I still ended up here with you." She motioned to the Hohenheim manor around them. "Maybe it was all meant to be or something silly like that"

'Hmm'. Her statement did give Ed some food for thought. It had been a rather bizarre set of circumstances and coincidences that led to this moment. 'I mean, what were the odds that Winry would find her way to the Xerxes. Even after everything our parents did to keep her out of this world, she still found her way back in.' Looking back at Winry, he was about to speak when a rather chilly breeze blew past them. Ed winced as the cold went straight to his stumps. Immediately sensing his discomfort, Winry stood up.

"Come on, let's go inside." She held out her hand for him. Ed accepted and allowed her to pull him up. He made a small face as he stood straight up. It still felt weird whenever he would put weight on his left leg. But the small discomfort was nothing he couldn't deal with.

"Alright." He said as Winry passed him his cane. "Is the cold always going to suck?"

"Sometimes." Winry responded with a comforting smile. "Only on extreme weather though."

"Automail is just the gift that keeps on giving." Ed drawled as he started walking.

"I'll pretend that wasn't sarcasm." Winry followed him.

The two of them made their way down the cobblestone path towards the manor. Winry watched him out of the corner of her eye as she thought about Ed's progress of that day.

'Just last night was when I gave him that leg.' She mused to herself. 'Already he's walking around like he's had it for weeks. Is that even possible?' To say she was impressed would be putting it lightly. They had progressed from using parallel bars to walking with a cane. It seemed that when Edward put 100% into something, he could do great things. Ed was a stubborn man, and he'd turned that stubbornness towards getting back on his own feet. 'He's made excellent progress, through sheer will or just plain stupidity.' Winry gave a small laugh at the last thought.

"What's so funny?" Ed asked curiously as they walked onto the patio.

"Nothing important." She said back. As they kept walking Winry could see that a few hours on the leg was starting to take its toll on Edward. He looked more tired then he was letting on. 'Maybe he should spend some time back in the wheelchair. At least for tonight.' It was getting late in the day and no doubt the kitchen was already starting to prepare dinner. As if on cue, Ed's stomach gave a growl.

The two of them faltered in their steps before Winry burst into giggles. "Someone's hungry." She pointed out.

"Apologies for being human." He grumbled as they turned a corner and came into a hallway that led to the main foyer. They were about to keep going towards the kitchen when Ed heard the main door open. The echo of dress shoes against wooden floor sounded down the hallway before the door closed.

"Edward."

Ed turned his head to see his father walking towards him. The doors to the Manor closed behind him. Edward seemed to almost snap to attention. His spine straightened up and any emotion that had previously been on his face disappeared. Winry looked between the the two men as the older one approached the pair of them. The change in Edward's body was very evident and she almost felt like stepping away to let this family exchange happen without her. Van Hohenheim's shoes continued to click against the floor before he came to a stop in front of them. The older man looked them up and down.

"Well...it is certainly good to see you on your feet again." Van said to Edward, his gaze lingering on the temporary prosthetic. He then turned to Winry who straightened up at the older man's words. "I must commend you on your progress so far, Miss Rockbell."

"It wasn't just me, sir." Winry responded, cheeks flushing just a little. "I'd say it was mostly Edward. He's been the one leading the charge. I just needed to wait until he was ready to do so."

"I can believe that." Van nodded. "I'm sorry that I have not been around in the last few days."

"D-don't worry about it." Ed said, slightly taken aback by his father's apology. "I...uhh...haven't really been pleasant company for the last week."

Winry let out a snort before quickly covering up her mouth in horror as the two men turned to look at her. Van's expression was unreadable while Edward had a raised eyebrow. Despite her embarrassment, Winry couldn't help but notice how much the two of them looked like one another. She had acknowledged the similarity in the past, but it was even more evident now that they were standing next to one another. There were some differences though. Van Hohenheim was a very tall man, towering over her by almost a foot. Edward was a head taller than her but still shorter than his dad, only came up to the elder's eyes. It was those eyes that were the most striking. They were almost identical. Piercing gold that cut right into the soul. It was almost disturbing to see the same gaze coming from two sources.

"Well Edward, I would like to talk with you more." Van said, turning to look back at his son. "Perhaps later at dinner? I'll leave you to finish with your mechanic."

"Yeah, that sounds good." Ed said, still a bit surprised by his father's words.

Van nodded, then turned to look at Winry. "Miss Rockbell." He said with a nod.

And with that, Van walked off to the staircase. He ascended the staircase with the intent of going to his office. He found Fu waiting for him at the top of the staircase.

"Fu." Van greated him by his first name.

"Van." Fu greated back with a nod.

"How was Edward's progress today?" Van asked.

"I observed them a little this afternoon." Fu told him. "Edward appears to be doing well. He acclimated quickly to walking on the temporary leg."

"Good, good." Van came to a stop next to his long time friend. "Miss Rockbell is doing her job quite well." The Hohenheim patriarch leaned forward, resting his elbows on the guardrail.

"Very well indeed." Fu said, raising his eyebrows.

Van looked at him questioningly. "What do you mean by that?"

Fu give him a wry smile. "The two of them have grown rather close."

"As to be expected." Van responded.

" _Rather_ close." Fu empathized, some mischief leaking its way into his voice.

"Oh." Van absorbed this information thoughtfully. His mouth was held in a firm line. "Has it become…intimate yet?"

"I don't think so." Fu leaned against the guardrail as well right next to his friend. "I doubt either of them have noticed it. Almost reminds me of how you and Trisha acted when you first met."

Van's lips twitched at Fu's reference, the briefest motion of a smile before they grew serious again. "Heaven help them then." His comment made Fu chuckle, but inwardly Van was thoughtful.

'Urey…when I last came to your house I joked that we should reintroduce Ed and Winry now that they were older.'

The idea of a possible romance between Edward and Winry Rockbell gave Van mixed feelings. On the one hand he had promised Urey that he would stay away from Winry, and a relationship with his son was the complete opposite of that. Yet another part of him, a voice that sounded painfully like Trisha's, found it an ideal pairing.

Before Van could ponder this topic any more, the Hohenheim patriarch heard a voice getting his attention.

"Master Hohenheim, sir?"

Van turned around to see Giolio Comanche standing respectively behind them. "Yes, Giolio." He asked patiently. Comanche had been in his service since Edward was a baby and Van had grown to highly value the faithful butler.

Hands folded behind his back, Giolio spoke. "Mister Frank Archer tried to reach you earlier. He called about two hours ago, but I told him you were not here."

Van's face immediately darkened as Fu's body tensed next to him. All three men knew the ramifications of this. Calling the home number of the mansion was something that was off limits for the other crime lords. Van could speak with them from his home, but they could not contact him. That was a well established precedent that everyone of the family's associates knew to follow. No one called the Hohenheim manor unless it was of the utmost importance.

"Fu, call Archer back." Van ordered. The Xingese enforcer nodded and quickly went to a nearby table where a phone sat. He picked up the phone and dialed the arm dealer's number. Van stayed where he was, waiting patiently and silently. After a few minutes the phone rang dead.

"No one picked up." Fu said turning to Van with a troubled frown.

Van's golden eyes narrowed. 'What would Frank Archer want to tell me?'

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Outside of Central:**

"So have we been compromised, yes or no?" Kimblee calmly asked the dark haired woman who was sitting across from him.

"As far as I know, no." Lyra Rial responded confidently.

"But he did reach out to the Hohenheims?" Atlas followed up, nervously drumming his fingers on the nearby table.

"Earlier this morning." Lyra informed him. "Fortunately for us, the old man wasn't there so Archer tried getting to him through me after."

"Did Archer leave any kind of message for Van Hohenheim?" Kimblee asked, leaning forward seriously.

"I…" Lyra trailed off as her hands clenched into fists under the table. "I don't think so." Off to the side Atlas gave her a sympathetic look. Kimblee simply stared at her with a monotone expression on his face.

"Since all three of us are currently still alive, I would venture to say that Archer didn't leave any message." Kimblee said swiftly before leaning back in his chair. "This was an unfortunate close call, but we have survived. At least for the time being."

Lyra gave a sigh a relief while some of the tension visibly left Altas' body. Kimblee's dark blue eyes examined both of them before he stood up with a sigh, running his hand through his dark hair. "So tell me, how long have you two been fucking each other?" He asked while straightening his suit.

Lyra and Atlas both froze in their movements. They glanced at each other for a moment before looking back up at Kimblee. The raven haired man was looking at his associates expectantly.

"Listen Solf, I was going to tell you-" Atlas began.

"Just don't let it get in the way of what we are doing." Kimblee said sharply. "That is all I have to say on the matter." He looked from one of them to the other. "Now…shall we get started?"

"Right." Lyra said, clearing her throat while sitting back up straight. "Yoki and Tucker are already waiting below. The others are arriving as we speak."

"Ok, just cutting in for a quick second." Atlas stood up, looking at Kimblee. "Were you sure that telling them about Lyra was the best idea? If word gets out about her, she's dead and then we're dead."

"I think the three of us, out of all people, are more than aware of the risks of crossing the Hohenheims." Kimblee responded. "And I am sure beyond a doubt that Yoki and Tucker will hold their tongues. Youswell is a spineless yes-man, and Tucker is too obsessed with killing Solaris Bailey to pass this opportunity up. Out of all the men I've approached, they are the most suitable candidates so far. Why do you think no one else has been told?"

"If you two are done debating my wellbeing, there's an important meeting about to happen." Lyra cut in but her tone died down at the look Kimblee gave her.

"Don't patronize me, Rial." His chilling tone sent a cold shiver down Lyra's spine. "Now, were you clear on how they should arrive?" Kimblee followed up.

"Yes. One bodyguard maximum, no phone, and to check for an tails following them." Lyra replied.

"Good. Hopefully those idiots listened to you." The way he said the sentence made it sound like a warning. Kimblee turned to look Atlas. "And our guest of honor?"

Altas nodded. "Bald has him ready to be brought in whenever you're ready."

"Alright then." Solf turned away, hands in his pockets. "Let's get this over with." He then calmly strolled out of room, finally allowing Lyra to release the breath she'd been holding.

"Jesus." She murmured, one hand coming up to brush a few dark hairs out of her face. "He's more of a douchebag than usual."

"Try not to let it get to you." Atlas said, walking over to Lyra and putting a hand on her shoulder. "He doesn't like things not going to plan."

"I've known him longer than you so believe me, I know that." Lyra responded with some harshness in her voice. "And he won't get off my ass about the Fulcrum."

The blonde man next to her sighed and ran a hand over face. "I'll talk to him." Atlas said. "After the meeting is over, and if it goes well."

"Why shouldn't it?" She asked dryly.

"This place is fucking with him I can tell." Atlas glanced around the old room. They were currently in what use to be the foreman's office, overseeing the loading dock. Lyra's eyes widened.

"Oh shit, this place is where…" Lyra looked around as well.

"Yeah." Atlas answered simply.

"Why then fuck are we here then?"

"Theatrics." Atlas shrugged.

Lyra nodded before glancing at him out of the corner of her eye. "So now that he knows about us, can we eventually talk about what _us_ really is?"

Atlas chewed his upper lip as he looked at Lyra thoughtfully and also a bit of tenderness. "Eventually…things are kind of tense right now though." He said before getting up. "There's a car waiting for you outside the back exit. You should leave before anyone at douchebag Manor knows you're missing."

"Don't tell me how to be a spy." Lyra gave him a small smile as she stood up. "Will I see you after the meeting?"

"We'll see." Atlas shrugged. "That's depending on if Solf and I come out of this show alive."

 **Below:**

The guests were filing in.

"Well the attendance of this meeting is certainly eye catching." Yoki observed.

"Indeed it it." Tucker agreed.

The two crime lords were standing in the dusty loading deck of a long abandoned warehouse. They were not the only ones. Arms dealer Bishop Cornello was there; maffiosa Phillip Hakuro, as well as small time bosses like Flynn Mugear, Duncan Fox and Kent Majhal. The gathered mobsters were either conversing quietly with each other, standing off to the side with their bodyguard, or glaring daggers at someone for a past transgression.

"Do you think anything important is going to happen?" Yoki asked, sweat dropping slightly. When you got this many criminals in one room, nothing good could happen.

"If it were unimportant, I would not be here." Tucker answered. "Let us just wait and see what Kimblee has in store."

Suddenly the two men's conversation was interrupted by the loud creaking of a door opening behind them. Yoki, Tucker, and everyone else looked over their shoulders as Kimblee entered the room. Immediately all chatter ceased, in fact any of them could have heard a pin drop in that silence.

He had a grimmer expression than what the two men were used to seeing. His usually confident smirk was replaced by a hard, serious line. The sight of it made Yoki gulp nervously. Kimblee finally stopped walking and stood right in front of the open door as the occupants of the room turned to face him. Without saying a word, Kimblee stepped to the side to grab something that was against the wall. Tucker noticed that it was a metal chair. Kimblee seized it by it's backrest and began to walk forward with it, dragging it against the concrete ground. The metal scrapped loudly against the ground as it scratched it way behind the man holding it. Kimblee moved slowly, walking past the crime bosses into the center of the room, his expression not changing at all. There was silence in the rather large room besides the loud the scrapping of the chair. Tucker noticed some of the other bosses glancing at each other with either looks of confusion or wariness. Eventually Kimblee came to a stop and released the chair. He turned to face all the men in the room with an almost predatory look in his face that even made Shou uneasy.

He sat down on the chair. Leaning back on it with one of his legs crossed over the other.

"Are you all afraid of me?" He asked simply to the small crowd in front of him.

No one answered, but more glances were exchanged. Several of the bodyguards nervously fingered their weapons.

"It's alright if none of you answer that question." Kimblee said. "And have no fear, there is nothing for any of you to be fearful of. Just a passing thought. But I began to ponder though. Have I distilled a healthy amount of fear of me into you?"

He paused for a moment, dark blue eyes traveling over every figure standing before him.

"And in my pondering, I came to the conclusion that I have not. I have certainly put on good performances for each and every one of you during our individual meetings. I've impressed you with my achievements so far and regaled you with my information on our common enemy. My performances no doubt have cast me as a mysterious man that can possibly be a asset to you all. But so far, they have not inspired true fear."

Suddenly the doors behind all the men opened again and they turned to see a large black haired man with an eyepatch and a large automail arm dragging something. It look all of them a second to realize that what this eye patch wearing man was dragging the body of another man. The man being dragged also had automail limbs.

There was a bag over the face of the man being dragged. The large man grinned at the bosses as he walked past them to Kimblee.

Kimblee sat as still as a statue in his chair.

The automailed man stopped and flung the unconscious man in front of him causing that man to tumble roughly on the floor. The bosses could hear light groaning as the man came to a stop.

"Remove the bag, Bald." Kimblee ordered.

Bald stepped forward and grasped the top of the back with his sharp automail fingers. He pulled and the bag tore, revealing the man under it to be Frank Archer. The former military colonel was in a rough shape with several bruises and fresh bleeding cuts marking his face.

"This is getting interesting." Tucker murmured to Yoki who was watching the scene in front of them with perfect fascination.

"Hello Frank." Kimblee greeted calmly.

Archer coughed roughly and moved to push himself up.

"Oh please, do stay on the ground." Kimblee said, still seated in the chair. "It's about to become your permanent resting place, so you two should really try to get acquainted."

"Kimblee you prick, I don't know what the fuck this is about." Archer pushed himself onto his feet. It was challenging with his busted leg, but he managed to get himself standing after a few attempts.

Kimblee cocked his head to the side before sighing slowly. "Come now Colonel. Can't you face this with at least some dignity?"

Archer straightened his suit with his one functioning hand. "Like I said." He spoke before spitting out a small glob of blood. "I have no idea what the hell you think you're doing right now. My people-"

"Don't have a single clue where you are." Kimblee said. "That is, if they are even bothering to look."

Archer cursed under his breath and glanced around at the other men, desperately looking for an ally. Before he could find one, Kimblee spoke up.

"You tried to warn Van Hohenheim about me."

Archer turned, his eyes glaring. "Are you fucking crazy? I did not."

"Your refusal to acknowledge what you've done is starting to become pathetic." Kimblee shook his head. "As pointless as your words are, your presence does serve as a good example. Had you not wanted to assist on my enterprise you could have simply stayed neutral. There would have been no hard feelings. And when the dust settled you would have been in almost the exact same position that you had been before you made that foolish phone call. Not better, but certainly not worse off."

Archer's breathing was coming out faster now, beads of sweating were rushing down his forehead.

"But as it were, you made the wrong decision." Kimblee spoke slowly. "So now, I'm going to kill you right now in front of all of these men."

"Jesus Fucking Christ!" Archer turned around to look at the men as Kimblee stood up from the chair.

"You know me!" Archer pleaded, looking around desperately. "You've worked with me for years! Are you just going to let this fucking nobody kill me?"

Kimblee calmly removed his long white coat, folded it, and placed it on the chair.

Archer glanced back at Kimblee before taking a limping step towards the crowd, his face was now deathly pale. "Cornello!" He cried in a choked voice as he looked at the priest. "We've been good for each other. I've helped you when you needed it!"

Cornello just stared back blankly, his face expressionless.

Kimblee removed his suit jacket, which quickly joined the coat. His eyes never left Archer.

Archer frantically looked in the direction of Yoki and Tucker. "Come on guys, please!"

Tucker arched an eyebrow. Yoki looked away sheepishly.

Archer looked back at Kimblee to see the other man rolling with the sleeves of his dress shirt. The dark haired man was now clad a gray vest with a white dress shirt and pants.

"Fuck all of you!" Archer turned around to look directly at the door that he had been dragged through. He made a break for it, running as hard as he could. His automail leg dragged, but pure adrenalin helped Archer to keep going. However, he did not make it very far before he was grabbed in the back by Bald.

"Where do you think you're going little man?" Bald grinned darkly.

Bald pushed Archer harshly, causing the man to stumble backwards until he was able to straighten himself. He turned around to find Kimblee standing right in front of him. There was bloody murder shining in those blue eyes, the look of a predator that was about to make its kill.

It was the darkest sight Archer had ever seen.

He did not even have a chance to scream before a sharp strike from Kimblee hit him directly in the throat. Archer's eyes bugged out and and he stumbled back gasping and wheezing. His throat was on fire, all air flow had been completely cut off by the blow. Before he could even comprehend what was happening, his feet were swiftly kicked out from under him. The injured man crashed painfully on his back, his automail cracking even more against the cement floor. Head spinning, Archer opened his tear filled eyes to see Kimblee hovering over him. The man's face was as expressionless as a statue, but his piercing eyes held an insanity that could not be put into words.

"Th-they'll kill you." Archer gasped out as air struggled to pass through his bruised throat. "A nah-nobody like you…doesn't stand a chance."

Kimblee chuckled darkly, eyes flashing with twisted amusement. "A nobody, you say?"

He knelt down on top of Archer's chest and raised his fist. He brought it down heavily, cracking the gasping man sharply on the side of the head. Archer's head rolled limply for a second before Kimblee's other fist struck with the same ferocity.

"It might interest you to know that the blood which runs through my veins is the same as a man who was once the rightful ruler of this city. A man with more power than you could have ever dreamed of achieving." Kimblee spoke calmly, not ceasing in his assault on the defenseless man below him.

"His name was Basque Grand, and he was my father."

The other mob bosses watched in stunned silence as Kimblee began to strike Archer over and over again. The strikes only seemed to get more fierce with each one. There was a pause in between each blow, as if Kimblee wanted to give Archer a chance to think before being hit again. Archer's face quickly descended into a mess of blood and darkening bruises as he vainly tried to push Kimblee away. But the dark haired man would not be moved and continued to deliver his slow, brutal punishment.

"Please…" Archer whimpered before getting hit again, splitting his nose open with a spray of blood. "...please." His face was a bloody mess of torn and swollen flesh.

Kimblee never stopped hitting him.

Even when the men were all sure that Frank Archer had finally died, Kimblee continued to brutalize his face. Finally after what seemed like hours, Kimblee stopped. His arms and clothes were stained crimson from Archer's blood. Several blotches of it were also dripping down his face. Standing back up, Kimblee turned to face his audience. The manic look had left his eyes, leaving a cold and dark gaze that chilled everyman in attendance to his bones.

"Are we going to have any further problems?"

 **OoO**

* * *

 **OoO**

 **Hey…..Al might get laid!**

 **Also, Kimblee is Basque Grand's son.**

 **I know that in the continuity of Automail from the show and just real life in general, Ed already being back on his feet this quickly is very unlikely. But unfortunately I've had to sacrifice some realism for the sake of the story. He needs to get back in the action one of these days. So the timeline of automail is quicker in this story than it would realistically be.**

 **For those who may not know, Fox is one of the Generals who was in league with Father. Towards the end, he's the pointy moustached one who Oliver takes hostage and is then killed by Sloth.**

 **Apologies for any grammar mistakes. One or two always seem to slip by me.**

 **Please share your thoughts in reviews!**


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